


Conquer

by SLynn



Series: Recruitment [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, I finally give answers, Rebuilding, that last tag might be a lie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2013-11-23
Packaged: 2017-12-27 22:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 48,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SLynn/pseuds/SLynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Phil and Clint settle back into their normal lives, Natasha begins to see that things are not the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, I am still writing this fic. I've reached about the halfway point (I think) with my draft and thought it was time to start posting again. I plan on at least posting weekly, but if I finish up and feel good about it, I will start posting more frequently. I am excited and anxious and happy and a little petrified about this one because... well, you'll see. Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

i.

The storm was worse than Tony had thought because it was seriously compromising his tech. The comm lines were down. The flashes of lightning were blurring his vision and in the chaos he'd lost track of the second target not long after they'd vacated the house.

After trying, and failing, to contact both Morse and Sitwell, and Steve and Maria, Tony made the decision to return to the jet.

"Sitwell's line got hosed," Morse called out, meeting him on the landing ramp along with Thor and Natasha. "He's working on it but that's probably trouble."

"Can't you turn this off?" Tony asked Thor as his faceplate slid up and he gestured wildly at the clouds.

"It is as I told you, one cannot put a storm in a bottle," Thor replied, unfazed as the lightning grew more intense around them. "One can only set it free."

"That's beautiful," Tony said. "Poetic even. Remind me of that next time, before we crack one of these open again, okay?"

"Tony," Natasha said, catching his attention for the first time. She was at the very top of the ramp, looking out around them, her whole body tense.

Unnerved, momentarily, Tony whipped around and scanned the tree line.

"We are not alone," Thor said quietly, having also sensed the added presence. 

They all felt watched.

"Hey," Tony shouted, hoping to be heard over the crash of thunder above. "Whoever you are out there, I hope you realize what you're about to mess with. I don't deal with amateurs."

"Turn on the lights," Natasha ordered Morse, taking a few steps further down the ramp.

"They're on already," Morse answered.

"No, the exterior lights," Natasha replied, her eyes still looking around the horizon.

"Why don't I paint targets on our backs, too," Morse muttered as she complied. "There you go. We're lit up like Broadway."

"Tasha, you got a plan here or..." Tony started to ask but before he could finish they all heard it.

The four of them turned at the unmistakable sound of a person dropping to the ground. They could all see him, they could tell it was a man now, in shadow, as he stood up from a crouched landing and hesitated. For a split second, he hesitated and then began to first walk, and then to run, in their direction. Thor and Tony both tensed reflexively, but Natasha took another step forward.

She didn't dare trust her eyes but she thought she recognized that silhouette.

She thought she knew...

He was close now, still running at a good pace, but without a weapon drawn and without any real sign of aggression in his movements.

That's when the floodlights switched on.

Not the floodlights from their jet; floodlights from above.

The man stopped dead in his tracks and looked skyward as the light from above spotlighted where he stood.

While everyone looked up at the intrusion, Natasha kept her eyes trained on the target.

On Clint.

With one arm raised to block the light from the jet hovering above him, Clint had froze and Natasha's heart did the same.

Tony finally flicked his eyes in Clint's direction and paused for a split second before blasting upward to see who had crashed their party. He got eyelevel with the pilot of the Quinjet, not recognizing the woman at the helm, and waited.

"Standby for landing," the woman announced over the loudspeaker so that everyone could hear.

Whatever emotion it had been that had previously kept Clint in place passed when he recognized the latest addition to be SHIELD. He moved back and away, but was careful to stay in sight and probably more importantly, to keep everyone else in sight. Tony stayed airborne as the jet landed and spotted in the weakening storm a different jet landing in the distance up by the house where he'd left Steve and Maria.

As soon as the SHIELD Quinjet touched down Morse was on her way over, looking furious and having obviously instructed both Thor and Natasha to stay back. They didn't listen. Two guards had already rushed out and over to Clint who didn't fight back. As a concession, they didn't restrain him, only escorted him back to the waiting jet without explanation.

"I have my orders," the SHIELD pilot was saying as Tony landed, joining the group bunched up between the two jets. The woman wasn't anyone he recognized, short with dark hair and skin, but she didn't appear to be wary of them in any fashion. "You are free to follow us back to the Helicarrier."

"Who sent you?" Morse barked. "How in the hell did you even know we were here?"

"I wasn't told who," the woman insisted, losing some of her professional calmness and sounding genuinely surprised, "but, Agent Morse, these orders came from up high. We were told to trail you from the Tower. Something strange is going on," she continued, casting a glance back towards the jet. "And not just back-from-the-dead strange."

"What happened, Agent Ryan?"

"Six agents failed to show for duty tonight," the other woman answered. "Their rooms were ransacked. They left in a hurry. The whole place is on lockdown. Director Fury is, well, furious. Sorry I didn't make contact before but... it's been a crazy night, Bobbi."

"Okay, well..." Morse said, looking a little apprehensive by influx of information. A little surprised by the easy admissions. "Cindy, can one of us ride along?"

Tony and Thor both turned and looked at Natasha, ready to see her push past them and walk up the ramp without further invitation, but she didn't. She hadn't moved. Natasha stood there and after a moment or two passed it was clear she wasn't going to volunteer.

"Yes," Agent Ryan answered with a nod. "I've got room."

Again, they all expected Natasha to jump at the chance, and when she didn't, Tony stepped up.

"We'll be right behind you," Morse said as Tony looked anxiously up the ramp and Ryan gave her a smile. 

"Peters is airborne," the co-pilot called out. "They've picked up Agent Coulson. Says Captain Rogers and Agent Hill are riding with them, so no need to wait."

Morse nodded and motioned Thor and Natasha back to their jet.

"Last chance," she said quietly to Natasha, casting a glance over her shoulder where Tony and Agent Ryan were still standing out on the ramp.

In response, Natasha picked up her pace.

"Okay," Agent Ryan said as soon as Morse's group was back onboard, "Mr. Stark, I only ask that you let me fly my jet. And try not to override anything midair. It makes me jumpy."

"I don't make promises," he returned, but it was half-hearted at best, as he followed her up the ramp and turned immediately to where Clint was sitting in the back of the hold.

Clint Barton looked different than he remembered. He looked smaller somehow. Diminished. He was most definitely thinner. Clint's hair was longer than Tony had ever seen it and he hadn't shaved in weeks. His clothes all looked as if they'd been procured second-hand. As he sat there, head in hands, every bit of him at odds; exhausted and relieved.

Tony was at a loss for words.

Instead of speaking, Tony took the seat directly opposite Clint's and waited as patiently as he could. When that didn't prove to be enough, Tony reached out and touched Clint's hand, wishing he'd at least gotten out of the suit before he'd climbed onboard.

"I'm fine," Clint said quietly, meeting Tony's eyes as if to prove something to himself. "I am."

"Are you ever not?" Tony asked with a faintest of smiles which earned a laugh in return. Granted, it was a weak laugh, barely more than a grin, but Tony took his victories where he could.

The rest of the ride was silent as not even Tony could find anything to say. When they landed, Tony half expected Director Fury to be there waiting, but instead there was no one. The two armed guards who had escorted Clint onboard the jet walked him off leaving Tony behind.

"Where are they taking him?" he asked Agent Ryan.

"Debriefing," she said as she ran through shut-down procedures. "And before you ask, they're not going to let you in."

Before he could ask, because Tony would always ask no matter what, he heard his name being called.

"How have you already changed?" Tony asked Steve, not at all surprised to see him. "What exactly holds that suit of yours together? Velcro?"

"Not now, Tony," Steve said, waving for him to follow. His face set and stern. "Fury is with Coulson. I don't think he's ever been at a loss for words before in his life but right now... Come on, let's go."

Tony took a few minutes to properly stow his own suit before following Steve through the Helicarrier towards the debriefing rooms.

"He say anything?" Steve asked. "Did Clint tell you anything about how this happened?"

"No," Tony shrugged. "He was a little out of it. What about Phil? What did he say?"

"He's not well, Tony," Steve said, and for a moment the facade slipped as he began to sound dejected. "There had been some kind of accident, that's how they escaped, but he was injured. On top of already being injured which... Fury is with him in medical..."

"Fuck."

"... and he's not letting him out of his sight," Steve finished as they entered the observation room. They were completely alone in it, except for the giant two-way mirror that dominated one entire wall. 

On the other side of that wall was Clint and Maria.

"Just start at the beginning, Barton," Maria said with her usual demeanor. It was almost as if this happened every day judging by the look of her.

"I don't know if I remember the beginning," Clint said with a heavy sigh. "I told you, I just woke up somewhere else."

"Were you drugged?" she asked, running down a checklist on her tablet.

"Probably."

"Yes or no," she reminded.

"Yes."

"Did you recognize any of your captors?"

"No."

"Were they in uniform? Organized in any way?"

"Yes. They all had the same... suit? Uniform, I guess. Tactical. Black. They always kept their faces covered. There were... there was a medical team. Kind of. They wore white."

"Did they question you?"

"No."

"Never?" she said, surprised.

"No. They never spoke to us except over a loud speaker."

"Us? You and Agent Coulson?"

"We weren't the only two there. There was another prisoner. A woman. I think her name was Carol but we never spoke so... so," he sighed and looked anguished, "I don't know for certain. Phil said her name was Carol, too. Maybe I got that right."

"Did they torture you?" Maria asked, making a note indicating she'd return to the previous question later.

Clint's eyes darted up to the mirror behind Maria and did not answer. Maria inclined her head slightly before hitting the pause button on the remote, halting the video recording of the interview.

"We need to know," Maria pressed.

"I don't have to be here, Hill," Clint said through gritted teeth. "I'm only doing this because Phil's banged up and I promised him I'd cooperate with SHIELD. I owe this to him, not you."

"I know," she said with a nod, "but I still need answers for SHIELD." Clint dropped his eyes to the table before him and let out a huff of air. "Here," Maria said, hitting a separate button and allowing Clint a look into the room. "It's just Rogers and Stark," she confirmed. "They can't be in here because of protocol and if you'd like, I can ask them to leave, but they are the only ones watching right now."

She hit the button again and the mirror was a mirror once more while Clint looked a little easier.

"No," he answered. "It wasn't torture but it was... it was something."

"Can you describe it?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "And not because... I don't know what they did. They put us to sleep and I think they experimented on us but I don't know for sure."

"How did you escape?"

"Luck."

"Can you expound on that?" Maria asked, carefully keeping her tone as polite as possible, which wasn't easy. It wasn't natural to her and furthermore, she didn't like his demeanor. It felt off, like he might possibly still be drugged. Or else it was shock. And Maria had known Clint for over eight years, had seen him in the aftermath of some truly terrible situations; if he was still in shock, it had to have been horrific. 

"Something spooked them," Clint said, leaning back in his chair slightly and shaking his head. Finally, he looked as if he was relaxing, if only a bit. "About a month back things changed. They stopped taking us into the experiments. We'd... we couldn't communicate directly, me and Phil, so... When I realized Phil was there, I knew that no one was coming to pick us up. We all thought he was dead so I assumed everyone thought the same about me. It took a long time to relay that information to Phil and we knew we'd have to get out on our own. Maybe they picked up on that and wanted us in a more secure location, maybe it was something outside... something more, I don't know. A lot of this, Hill, you can't understand how... how isolated we were. Whatever the reason, they decided to move us and there were problems with the transport."

"What happened?"

"I don't know," he repeated, showing more strain in his demeanor than before. Showing real anger. Hill always made him irrationally angry, even now, but for once she didn't mind. It was good to see him reacting again, even if it was negatively towards her. He'd been entirely too mellow for her liking up until now. "I don't know. They had us drugged. I woke up and... I guess we crashed. They drugged us for the transfer. They drugged us for everything. I woke up and there was debris and fire and I heard Phil --"

Clint stopped abruptly and shut his eyes as if the memory was too much.

"He was pinned underneath a bench, some part of the plane. His leg looked really bad. There was a dead guard nearby. I took his gun and took out the other three guards. We looked... We looked for hours after but Carol wasn't there. She wasn't on the transport with us and... and I don't know what happened to her."

"This crash site," Maria said after a moment of silence. "Do you think you could locate it?"

"Absolutely."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been marathon writing for three days straight and I'm feeling a lot better about my progress so... another chapter!

ii.

Bobbi Morse sighed as she continued pacing a short circuit in front of the windows as she waited. They'd almost made it back to New York when Romanoff insisted that they head to the Tower instead of the Helicarrier. Morse understood why. She hadn't even argued with her. Seeing your sort-of boyfriend come back from the dead, after you'd killed him, must be unsettling, even if you were Natasha Romanoff the Black Widow. Unfortunately, once they landed they had to explain everything to Banner and Sitwell. Then they had to explain it all again to Potts, Foster and Lewis. 

By the time they'd straightened it out Hill was on the line telling them to stay put. Coulson wasn't going to be leaving medical that night and everyone else was heading back out to examine some kind of crash site.

Four hours had passed and Bobbi was still waiting even as the sun was starting to rise, but she wasn't alone. At first everyone had hung around, but now it was down to those truly desperate for answers: herself, Thor, Potts and Banner. Sitwell had left for the Helicarrier hours ago, not content to sit around and wait when he could go to Coulson directly. Jane and Darcy had fallen asleep on the sofa a half dozen times before Pepper and Thor finally talked them into just going to bed. And Natasha... again, Bobbi didn't blame her for being out of sorts but her absence was noted.

Pepper rising suddenly to her feet caught Bobbi's attention, as well as the two men with them. Turning back towards the windows she saw the Quinjet making its approach and she took a steadying breath, not sure why she felt so tense and anxious.

The jet stopped long enough on the auxiliary pad for its four passengers to disembark before taking off again for the Helicarrier. Bruce and Thor joined Pepper and Bobbi, watching and waiting for what would happen next, but no one on the deck seemed to be moving with any urgency.

They made quite a sight.

Clint Barton, back from the dead, had stopped to take a look around him, out into the city. His back to them all, even from inside the Tower the steady rise and fall of his shoulders could be seen as he took in several deep breaths. Tony was only a few feet behind him, shifting slightly from foot to foot as if unsure of what to do or say. Closest to the door and the bay of windows were Maria and Steve, but even they stood a good ten feet apart from one another as they watched the scene unfold. They were all waiting for Barton to make the first move, to head inside, and after a few minutes more, he did.

"This is unreal," Pepper whispered, her eyes on the floor as she gave her head a shake. Her hands clutched tightly together, she lifted her head and met Bobbi's gaze.

"You can say that again," Bruce said, echoing her opinion, but with a shaky smile on his lips.

Inadvertently, Bobbi laughed and as she did she blushed. Her voice high and nervous, and it dawned on her why she suddenly felt so out of place. Because she was out of place.

She shouldn't be here.

Pepper reached out to her, squeezed her shoulder gently and offered up a warm smile, and Bobbi relaxed. Even if this was more of a personal gathering, she wasn't being excluded. She wasn't going to be forced out or asked to leave. She was grateful for it, even if it hadn't felt earned.

In the very next moment Tony pushed open the door and the room was filled with noise. Everyone was talking at once. Everyone was moving forward, asking questions, welcoming them all back with relief and excitement.

As best as she could, Bobbi moved herself away from the gathering.

Maria did the same.

"Have you had an update?" she asked the other woman.

"On Agent Coulson?" Maria returned, leaning into the couch as she rubbed at her eyes which were ringed with dark circles. "Yes. He'll be released later this morning. He has a minor infection but nothing serious."

"Did you find anything?"

"No," Maria said, stifling a yawn. "The site was stripped clean. We looked but... whoever it was cleaned up thoroughly."

"How's Barton?" Bobbi asked, lowering her voice so as not to catch his ear.

"Same as the rest of us," Maria shrugged. "Exhausted. Angry. Relieved and confused. Ryan tell you about the deserters?"

"She did," Bobbi said, shutting her own eyes with a sigh. "Sitwell already compiled a list. A few other agents around the country also skipped out. Looks like about a dozen total."

"Could be bigger."

"It's probably much bigger," Bobbi agreed, knowing twelve agents were simply not enough to run an operation of this caliber. "It's going to be a busy day."

"What time does the Director want us in?"

"Nine."

"Then I'd better go catch a nap," Maria said, pushing off the couch and back onto her feet as she checked her watch. "You sticking around?"

"For a little while," Bobbi answered. 

Maria nodded in return and left without extending a goodbye to her or to anyone in the room. Bobbi's eyes darted back to the happy crown only to catch Rogers looking her way. Except he wasn't really looking at her, but past her at where Hill had just exited via the elevator. Bobbi watched as he briefly lowered his head and then turned his attention back to Tony who was relating some semi-amusing antidote with a forced smile on his lips.

Before Tony could break into another story, Pepper intervened.

"It's five forty-three," Pepper objected. "No one's slept and it's been a very long day and we're all very tired, Tony. I think it's time to call it a night."

"Who's tired?" Tony asked, looking around the group as if that simply wasn't possible.

When everyone, minus Thor, raised their hand, he waved at them all dismissively.

"Spoilsports," Tony sighed, but there was a smile on his face. "Fine. Sleep if you have to."

"Some of us not only have to but want to," Clint returned, and even from across the room Bobbi could see he was pale with fatigue. "I haven't seen a real bed in months. Got to admit, I'm looking forward to my own."

"Oh no, your room," Pepper said with a frown. "It's not... it's not together. I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking about that."

"It's fine, Pepper," he assured her with an easy grin to put her at ease. "I can crash anywhere."

"I'll get it straightened out tomorrow," she said with a nod. "Or, well... later today," she finished with a smile. "We have plenty of spare rooms. I'll show you."

"No need. I know my way around," he reminded her. "But um... Did any of my things... Was anything --"

"It's all still boxed in your room," Tony answered before Clint could finish.

"I could use a change of clothes," Clint said, casting a quick glance around the room but carefully avoiding meeting anyone's eyes at the moment.

"I'll take care of it," Pepper said quickly, understanding his hesitation.

"Take any room you like," Tony said, steering him towards the elevator along with Pepper while everyone else hung back. "JARVIS will let you know which are occupied."

"You've got guests? Besides me, I mean," Clint asked as the three of them took the elevator down towards the guest rooms.

"You're not a guest," Pepper objected.

"Hill and Sitwell," Tony confirmed. "Should we have asked Morse to stay too?" he asked, eyebrow raised as he turned his attention to Pepper.

"She has an apartment," she answered with a sigh. "You've been working with her for months. You should know that, Tony."

"That's right, out in Brooklyn."

"No," Pepper said with a shake of her head and Clint let out a faint chuckle as the elevator doors slid open.

"Please tell me she's not commuting in from Jersey."

"You're hopeless," Pepper countered kindly and Clint couldn't help it; he laughed.

"Are we amusing you?" Tony asked as he opened the door to the spare room.

"A little bit," he admitted, still laughing. "Or I'm delirious. I haven't ruled that one out. For months I never really felt awake and then this past month it feels like I haven't really slept," he finished as he sat down heavily on the couch.

Tony immediately sat down in the chair opposite Clint, with Pepper choosing to rest against the arm, and for a long moment none of them spoke.

"I missed you guys," Clint finally said while looking down at his hands which were clutched tightly in his lap. "I missed all this. I didn't think we'd make it back this time."

"You and Phil do this a lot then?" Tony asked with a fond smile.

"Never on purpose," Clint answered with a laugh, before rubbing his hands over his face.

"Well," Pepper said, getting to her feet and motioning for Clint to stand as well. "Let's try to break that habit," she said as she pulled him into a hug.

"I will," Clint returned quietly, keeping his head down as Pepper dropped a kiss on his cheek.

"Good, because I can't do this again," she returned with a shaky laugh and smile of her own.

"Okay, okay," Tony said, standing up and shaking his head as he rolled his eyes. "Enough already. That's enough mushy stuff. Let the man go, Pepper. He needs sleep."

"Fine," she said, pulling him in for one last hug. "If you need anything..."

"Sleep, remember?" Tony said with a laugh.

"I know who to ask," Clint assured her, ignoring him. "Thank you."

Pepper nodded, her eyes brimming with unshed tears, as she made her way to the door. But Tony didn't immediately follow her. Instead, he lingered for a second, placing his hand on Clint's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. Trying to say what he found he no longer could and eventually giving up, he settled on giving Clint a nod and patting him on the arm before joining Pepper.

"Goodnight," Pepper called out.

"Goodnight."

As soon as he was alone, he familiarized himself with his new surroundings. It was the same basic layout of the old room with the only difference being the furniture type. After a few minutes of settling his own nerves, he was still on a bit of an adrenaline high, he went straight for the shower. He still didn't have a change of clothes, but at the moment he didn't care. Rest was needed; he had to be mentally prepared for whatever happened next.

What happened next should have been expected.

As soon as he got out of the shower he knew he was no longer alone.

Wrapping a towel around his waist and striding confidentially into the bedroom, he stopped in the doorway and waited.

"I ran into Pepper," Natasha said evenly from across the room. "She said you needed clothes so..." she trailed off, her eyes flitting to the neat stack of clothes on the bed.

"You just happened to have those on hand, did you?" he asked, shifting his weight to lean into the doorjamb.

"Not on hand," she returned without inflection. "Just handy."

Clint nodded and continued to stare back at her; continued to wait and see what she'd say next.

Natasha looked away first. She couldn't help it. He was so exposed, so bare, that the scars... Natasha could see, easily see, the ugly marks she'd made on his midsection.

It was too much. 

Maybe for them both she realized too late.

"Thanks," he finally said with a short nod as he moved further into the room. Clint picked up the t-shirt and pulled it over his head before he looked at Natasha again. "It's good seeing you," he said, his voice softer than before.

"I wasn't certain you'd want to see me."

"I wasn't certain either," he admitted, hesitating at first before beginning to move towards her. "Until I did. Natasha, I --"

"Wait," she interrupted. She held her ground, but her whole body tensed up at the thought of him touching her, and not in good way. Not in the typical way. She was terrified of how she'd react.

Natasha was terrified of hurting Clint. Again. Of being close enough to hurt him.

"Just wait," she said forcefully. "I need... I need time."

"Then... Then why are you here?" he asked, clearly confused and more than a little dejected.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I wanted to see you. I wanted to be sure... but, Clint, I need time. I'm working with Bruce to make sure I'm safe. He has some good ideas and I think... I think in time... This is what I need."

"What about what I need?"

"Clint --"

"No," he said quickly, cutting her off and giving his head a brutal shake. "Don't. It's... It's fine. I get it. Take all the time you need."

"You're angry."

"Yes," he said, looking away from her in obvious frustration while still trying to smile. "I'm... but it doesn't matter. Do what you have to do and... and I'll do what I have to do. Thanks for dropping these off," he said, turning his back on her and holding up the clothes she'd brought by, "but I need to get some rest now, so..."

By the time he had turned around again to face her, Natasha was already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

iii.

Maria really didn't know why she'd gone back to the Tower for lunch, she just did.

Her head was throbbing. Her body ached. Maria would have sworn it was the flu, if she didn't know better, but she did. She was exhausted. She had absolutely no sleep in at least thirty-eight hours and very, very little rest in the entire week leading up to the previous night. On top of that, she was fairly certain her last meal had been almonds. Just almonds. The one before that, she couldn't say but it was probably a protein bar. In between meals there had been coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

She needed to take a break, a real one, and even if the Tower wasn't what she'd call a restful environment, it beat the Helicarrier. Besides, without an apartment of her own, Maria couldn't afford to be choosy.

"Oh, good," Tony said, catching her off guard. "You're here."

Maria had been sitting at the counter with her eyes shut, spoon in hand, completely still and maybe just a little bit asleep when he'd arrived. If she startled at his voice, he at least had the good grace to hide his smile behind his hand.

"What?" she asked quietly, too tired to snap.

"We were all kind of hoping for an update."

"About what?" she said, dropping the spoon into the carton and rubbing the palms of her hands against her eyes.

"For starters, Phil," Tony said as he leaned against the counter beside her. "SHIELD. How the hell they knew where we were going last night? What's being done? Who bolted? Everything, Hill. We need to know everything."

Maria sighed and tipped her head back, her eyes drifting to the ceiling. She was so beat. After they'd arrived back last night she'd gone to her room but couldn't sleep. All morning had been a haze of meetings and briefings and teleconferences and... 

"Where do I even start?"

"Well," Tony said, back on his feet, "first you can grab your things and --"

"What?"

"Come on," he said, jerking his head towards the door. "Everyone's waiting."

"Waiting," she repeated, instantly on her feet and momentarily revived.

"In the conference room," he explained. "You can tell us all at the same time. Plus, there's food. Not that there isn't food here, but why you're not eating it..." he said, pointing at her container. "What is it with SHIELD agents and yogurt? You all eat it and you're really the only people I know who do. Is that some kind of conditioning or is that how the organization is funded? Does SHIELD own Yoplait?"

"Talking... stop that," Maria stammered, shutting her eyes again as the pain behind her temples flared. "Stop talking, Tony. Please."

"You okay?"

"Peachy," she answered dryly as her eyes slid reluctantly open again.

"If you're not up to it," he said, without his usual snark, "it can wait. Take a break. A nap. An aspirin."

"That's not how this works," she sighed, knowing he was sincere. "There are no breaks until we have something and right now... "

"It's early," he said, being fair as Maria ditched her yogurt and followed him out the door.

"Well, the good thing is that the WSC is finally onboard and backing Director Fury again," she said, stepping into the elevator. "I mean, they still think it's HYDRA but... small victories I guess."

"Speaking of small victories... I half expected your SHIELD techs to be beating down the door to get at that device we pulled out of your communicator. How did you call them off?" Tony asked as the elevator doors slid open.

Maria fixed him with a look and then shrugged, "I didn't tell them about it." Before he could do more than just continue to stare at her in disbelief. "And I didn't tell them because I assumed you'd want first crack at it. And honestly, you're the most qualified to look at it so... why bother?"

"Was that a compliment?"

"Don't get used to it," Maria sighed. "And I want a full report as soon as possible. Whatever you know, I want to know. It may be the only way to track the person who did this."

"Any guesses?"

"None," Maria admitted as they both came to a halt beside the main table where Steve and Clint were seated.

"Guesses?" Steve asked, having caught the tail end of the conversation, his eyes shifting quickly from Maria to Tony.

"You already got something?" Clint asked at nearly the same time.

The two of them both looked exhausted, which for Steve was saying something. Maria knew he was having a hard time, in general, resting. He'd told her so himself. She wanted to give him the same advice Stark had given her, to just go take a nap, but it was still awkward. Maria had to force herself to look at him.

"We were just talking about the jammer in Hill's comm," Tony answered. "I already looked at it again and it's nothing I recognize. I was thinking Osborn, because of..." he trailed off, waving his hands at Clint by way of explanation, "but it's not his. I'll have another go later but right now Hill's got news."

"Not really," she amended as Thor, Jane and Darcy joined their informal gathering. "There's still not a lot to tell yet. Agent Coulson is being released from medical this afternoon."

"What of his wound?" Thor asked with real concern.

"Healed," Maria said, shaking her head in disbelief. "They've run the full spectrum of tests and while he's scarred, he's otherwise fine."

"He lost time," Clint added. "We had... we had time to talk after and as near as he could tell, he lost at least four months. I think I lost about a week myself. Whatever their reasons, they wanted us whole."

"Any idea yet who's behind this?" Steve asked, shifting his gaze between Clint and Maria.

"If I knew..." Clint started to say, trailing off with a shrug.

"Every available analyst on the Helicarrier is running back through everything," Maria said, shaking her head in frustration. "Every single piece of intelligence we have is being reviewed but don't get your hopes up. It's going to be a slow process and without knowing exactly what was missed or even what to focus on... Well, you get the idea."

"So there really is nothing?" Jane asked, perplexed.

"Not yet," Maria said shortly, dropping her eyes to the ground briefly before looking up again with more determination. "Barton, when you're ready, medical would like a walk-thru. I understand," she continued on quickly, sensing the interruption coming from Tony's direction, "you are no longer a part of SHIELD and are in no way required to comply but in the interest of uncovering what is happening here, I'm asking for your cooperation."

Clint looked her dead in the eyes and for a moment she swore he was going to say 'no', but instead he gave her a crisp nod and Maria knew not to push further.

"Director Fury wants to have a sit down with the Avengers and his team at the end of the week," she finished. "That's all I've got. What have you been up to?"

"Well," Tony said, moving to sit on the table, "I talked to Dr. Ross and she's agreed to look over whatever you've got on Captain Danvers. She'll be here tomorrow."

"Here?" Maria asked with surprise.

"All squared away," Tony assured her, knowing the concern. "Have you got more information?"

"Morse is working on that. She's got a biology degree or something," Maria said with a wave of her hand. "I forget. She'd like to sit in if she can."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Tony returned with an indifferent shrug of his shoulders.

"Speak of the devil," Darcy said under her breath as the elevator doors slid open and Bobbi Morse arrived.

"Hill," she said sharply as she strode into the room. "We need to talk."

"We're all ears," Tony said with a grin.

"I was just heading back --"

"Privately," Morse interrupted, the corners of her mouth downturned and her hands set on her hips.

Hill considered telling her to go to hell. She was tired, she was so tired...

"Excuse us," she said instead, fixing Morse with a glare as she walked with her back out of the room.

"What do you think that was about?" Jane asked carefully, her eyes darting from Steve to Tony.

"When did Morse start handing out orders?" Clint asked.

"She wasn't ordering," Steve said, "she was asking."

"With authority," Thor amended pointedly, and it was a hard truth to deny.

Before they could continue on with that conversation, Morse returned, but without Maria.

"Sorry about that," she said, her eyes skimming quickly over the group. "Hill tell you about Fury's plan to meet?"

"Yeah, but --"

"Tomorrow," she said sharply, interrupting Tony. "Two in the afternoon. Avengers only. Dr. Foster, you're welcome to attend. And I understand Dr. Ross will be arriving soon?"

"Yes," Tony answered, curious as to the sudden urgency.

"She's allowed in. Director Fury will be bringing Agent Coulson with him, along with Agent Sitwell and myself. Please direct Agent Romanoff to attend."

"What about Agent Hill?" Steve asked, sitting up straighter, his brow furrowed.

"If she's available," Morse answered with a nod. "I'll let you know if things change. Keep me informed," she finished as she moved to go.

"Wait a minute," Steve called out, pushing out of his chair to follow.

He caught her at the elevator and Morse made no signs of stopping. She only edged to the side and allowed him to follow after her, not looking his way until the doors shut them inside.

"I can't tell you," she said, looking into his eyes and shaking her head. "I can't. "

"What --"

"And I'm not stupid," she quickly interjected. "I know Stark has got this thing wired. He's probably already watching. Just be at the briefing tomorrow and... and that's all I'm going to say."

"Agent Morse, if you have information about this investigation that you aren't sharing --"

"I don't. I know exactly what you know about what's going on, which is to say nothing. No one knows anything yet."

"Then why did you drag Agent Hill out of here? Why stop her from talking?"

"I wasn't..." she began, stopping herself by shaking her head. "That's not what I was doing."

"Is this how Fury is going to work this thing? Is he going to continue to keep us in the dark?"

"What Fury wants to do or doesn't want to do, I promise you, I don't know. And really," she finished as they entered the secondary lobby of the Avengers Tower, "my visit today had nothing to do with..." Morse sighed and stopped her tracks, turning to face him fully as she rubbed her eyes. "I am only here out of professional courtesy."

"Professional courtesy," Steve repeated. "For Agent Hill?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I really can't tell you," she said with complete sincerity.

"Is Maria..." he began, momentarily forgetting the situation. Who he was talking to and why. "I mean... Agent Hill. Is Agent Hill all right?"

Momentarily forgetting everything that had happened between Steve and Maria.

For a split second it looked as if Morse was going to say 'yes' and leave it at that. She'd even begun to nod her head, but something in the way he looked stopped her.

"Listen," she said, lowering her voice and moving half a step closer, "she's already left but, she's staying here so... so you might want to check in on her later this evening. She may need someone to talk to."

"I... I appreciate the advice," Steve said, straightening his posture and shuffling his weight from one foot to the other, "but I'm not certain that's what she'd want."

"Oh," Morse said, real surprise evident on her face. "My mistake. I just... I guess I always thought that the two of you were friends."

"No," Steve said quickly, but not meaning to dispute the statement. "I mean, yes. Yes, we're friends... I just..."

"Just what?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "It's nothing. We are friends."

"Good," Morse said with a faint smile, as if she was really happy to hear it, "because she's going to need one."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've hit a (minor) snag... so the posting has slowed, but I'm still confident about finishing this monster soon. So... enjoy another chapter, this one longer than the last and thank you all.

iv.

"You know," Tony drawled to Clint, sliding into Steve's vacant seat as soon as he'd left, "you don't have to go to SHIELD's medical house of nightmares if you don't want to. Bruce can give you a once over here and we can ship them the results. Hell, we don't even have to ship them the results if you don't want."

Jane and Darcy tried to appear uninterested in his response, but Thor was paying acute attention.

"I'm not going to lie and say that going back there is high on my list of fun times," Clint sighed, having initially hoped to skip this whole conversation, "but I promised Coulson."

"So he knows you've left SHIELD?" Tony continued to press. It was in his nature.

"Yes. And he's not happy about it but... but he understood so..." Clint finished, looking a little relieved to say it out loud. "Once we got situated there wasn't much to do besides talk."

"The whole time you were there you couldn't speak?" Tony asked, honestly curious as he recalled what Clint's interview with Maria the night before. "Not to each other? Not to anyone?"

"The rooms were soundproof," Clint answered with a quick nod. "I didn't even know Phil was there until..." he went on but quickly stopped. Shutting his eyes and shaking his head, he said, "I really don't want to get into if we don't have to. I mean, I'll tell you everything I know but..."

"It was quite an experience," Thor provided for him.

"It was."

Before Tony could ask more, Clint was saved by the entrance of Pepper, Bruce and Natasha. Seeing his chance to escape, at least momentarily, he got to his feet and crossed the room. He didn't want to leave, he just didn't want to get into the details of it all just yet. Naturally his eyes found the purple bow mounted on the wall and just as naturally he stood before it.

The conversation to his back became more varied, more broken into groups, and after several minutes passed Pepper fell in beside him.

"You're not mad, are you?" she asked, her head tipping towards the bow.

"Can't be," he shrugged. "I'm sure Tony meant well."

"You knew it was Tony?"

"Who else?" he asked with a faint laugh.

Pepper smiled at him, but it was a little sad.

"How'd you sleep?" she said after a full minute of silence between them.

"I didn't. You?"

"Not a wink."

After a minute more they both turned and faced the rest of the room. Steve was back, talking with Tony. Bruce and Natasha were off in the corner by themselves while Thor, Jane and Darcy had taken command of the coffee cart.

Pepper kept stealing glances at Clint, not surprised to find his gaze frequently fixated on Natasha. She wanted to ask how they were, but that would be presuming too much. She considered Clint her friend, but she'd also learned that when it came to personal matters it was best to let him bring things up.

Well, she'd mostly learned.

"Have you talked to her yet?"

"Not much to say," he answered, earning a stern look for his efforts. "Okay, well, there's not much she wants to say. I can't... No one can force her to really say anything. How... How was she while... When she thought..."

"Devastated."

Clint looked at her for a moment. Met her eyes and accepted the answer with a nod. But a sound or a sudden motion caught their attention, and they both looked back at the far corner of the room where Natasha was actually smiling at something Bruce had said or done. A real smile.

"She seems to have recovered," Clint said with a small smile of his own that even Pepper could tell was forced.

Before Pepper could refute the situation, before she could think of a way to refute it, Tony had bounded up to the both of them looking like his usual cheerful self. All serious conversation ended and after some time Clint was even smiling for real.

From across the room it was Natasha's turn to look disturbed.

"I'm sure if you just explained..." Bruce started to say, but trailed off with a shrug when her eyes fell back onto his with a cold fury.

"What's to explain?" she asked coolly.

"That you need time. That's reasonable."

"He doesn't seem to think so."

"Well," Bruce shrugged, "maybe you shouldn't have led with that."

"What should I have led with then?" Natasha asked, eyebrow raised as a look of supreme irritation bled into her features. "That I'm worried this is all a delusion? That I'm really locked in a cell hallucinating? That I'm worried he might still be dead and..."

"You both need time," Bruce urged kindly. 

"What we need is not realistic," Natasha argued. "It never was but... but I let him talk me into it. Maybe I wanted to be talked into it. I don't know. But now... now we should both know better and it is better if we just end it."

"If that's how you feel then you should tell him. Sooner rather than later."

"Was it that easy with your doctor friend?"

"No," he sighed and for a moment there was nothing but silence between them.

"I'm sorry," Natasha offered. "That was mean. I just... I want so badly to go back to how it was but... but I can't. We can't."

"No, none of us can change what's done. But, Tasha, you've still got a chance here at a happy ending." When she laughed, Bruce pressed harder. "I'm serious. You were willing to try and deactivate these triggers for his memory. Now you can do it for yourself. For your future. Possibly for your future together." 

"I can't think about the future."

"Then think about right now. Right now, Tasha, what do you want?"

"I want... I want to be a part of the world again."

"Then..." he led, waiting for her to fill in the blanks.

"Then we should get started," she agreed.

As Bruce and Natasha left the room, having gone to the lab to get to work, the rest of the group slowly broke up until Steve realized he was left alone. Tony and Thor had insisted upon accompanying Clint back to the Helicarrier for his pass through medical. Jane had wanted to set-up a room and lab for Dr. Ross who would be joining them in the morning. And, unlike everyone else, Pepper and Darcy had actual jobs to do.

Steve had absolutely nothing to do but wait for Maria and rack his brain for all the possible things that could be wrong.

It made for a very long afternoon.

When dinner time rolled around and Maria still hadn't shown back up at the Tower, Steve really began to worry, to the point where other people were noticing. Tony commented, more than once, on the fact that he hadn't touched his food. Darcy tried, several times, to draw him into conversation, without success. It got so bad even Thor looked at him with concern.

After that Steve decided sticking around everyone else was pointless and made his way to the gym, asking JARVIS to let him know when Agent Hill arrived.

She didn't.

"Tony," Steve said, coming into the other man's workshop a few hours later, just before midnight.

"Good," he replied as he pushed away from his work bench and turned to face the other man, "I wanted to talk to you. What was up with Hill and Morse today? What was that about?"

"I was actually going to see if you had heard anything," Steve returned.

"Pro tip," Tony fired back at him. "They don't like me, therefore they tell me nothing."

"You were on the Helicarrier, weren't you?" Steve pushed.

"Being escorted around by Fury himself," Tony confirmed, "but I was just there for Coulson and Barton. We didn't talk shop."

"And you didn't see Hill?"

"No," Tony answered, realizing at once that it had been odd. "But I didn't see Morse, either. Maybe Hill got called away on personal matters. She could have had some kind of family emergency," Tony suggested, seeing that Steve really was concerned.

"No," Steve dismissed with a shake of his head, "she doesn't have --" He stopped mid-sentence and looked up briefly, aware he'd betrayed something he shouldn't have.

"What? A life?" Tony joked, trying to help pass it off. "Do any of us? Well, I do, but that's only because Pepper puts up with living here, in the zoo." When Steve still remained silent, Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm not prying. I'm not. Geez, ask a few questions and suddenly you've got a reputation as a busybody."

"I think it's fair to say that you've earned that reputation," Steve said, his mood momentarily lifted.

"I just like to be informed," Tony replied. Then, after a long pause continued, "So, you really don't know what's happened?"

"Morse wouldn't tell me," he admitted. "She just... she made it sound bad and she's not prone to exaggeration and now Hill hasn't come back so... it might be nothing. It might be something completely..."

"You're worried."

"Yes."

"Well," Tony sighed, "short of going to the Helicarrier and tracking her down..."

"I'll have to wait."

"Sorry," Tony said with a shrug. "You can ask JARVIS to let you know when she's back."

_"Already done, sir,"_ JARVIS responded.

"It's probably nothing," Tony said, trying to sound reassuring but falling just short of the mark.

Steve nodded and left a few moments later, retreating back to his room to try and not think about it as he sat down to watch yet another classic film on the television.

_"Captain Rogers,"_ JARVIS said over the intercom, _"Agent Hill has arrived back at the Tower."_

Steve said 'thanks' as he checked the clock, surprised to find it was almost two in the morning. Deciding that it was far too late to approach her now, he was set on trying to get some sleep and catch her in the morning.

Five minutes later there was a knock at his door.

"JARVIS said you wanted to talk," Maria said, looking sour and exhausted in the doorway.

"I actually didn't mean... JARVIS, I didn't ask you to tell her," Steve said.

_"Mr. Stark amended your request, sir,"_ JARVIS answered and of course Tony did; Steve shouldn't have even been surprised.

"This is why I have to look for an apartment," Maria said with a shake of her head, already turning to go. "If this isn't vital than I'd rather wait, Captain. I've got some free time before tomorrow's meeting."

"Then you'll be there?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Agent Morse implied you might not make it," Steve answered.

"A well intentioned mistake," Maria returned, shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I will be in attendance."

"So, everything is okay?"

"Everything is fine," she said through neatly clenched teeth. "Thank you."

"You were called away rather suddenly," Steve continued to press. 

"And?" she asked with a cutting glare.

"And Agent Morse --"

"Let's cut right to the chase," Hill interrupted. "Obviously, she told you..."

"She didn't."

"...and you know what's happened."

"I really don't."

"So," Maria continued, as if he hadn't spoken, "what do you want from me? What do you want me to say here? You were right? Because you were. You know, I'd have expected this kind of behavior from Stark, but not from you."

"Listen, Maria, all Morse said to me was that you might need someone to talk to. I know things between us have been kind of dicey lately, but that doesn't mean I'm not your friend. And as your friend I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you. If you want to talk. If you don't, that's fine, too."

Maria stood before him, arms still crossed over her chest, and mulled over his words while Steve waited. After a minute more she sighed, pressing her chin down towards her chest as she ran her hands over her eyes.

"You're going to find out anyway," she said, waving him back into his own room and following right behind. 

Steve shut the door and watched as Maria took a seat on the couch. Not that long ago he would have sat beside her, but with their new boundaries firmly established, he opted this time for the chair nearby.

"The Manchurian Candidate," Maria said, her eyes on the television. "It's a great movie. They made a remake not too long ago but it wasn't as good as the original."

"I keep getting told that," Steve said with a faint smile. "That they keep remaking old films," he elaborated, "so I thought I'd work my way up. Got about fifty years worth of classics to go."

"Still not sleeping?"

"I'm getting enough to get by on," he admitted. "A few hours a night. It's not bad."

"It can't be healthy."

"I don't feel tired," he shrugged. "But aren't we supposed to be talking about you? How did this become about me and my sleep issues?"

"Because I evade questions for a living," Maria said, smiling a little herself. "Government trained even."

"You don't have to tell me."

"No," she said, shaking her head and looking briefly at the floor. Her smile having disappeared completely. "I do. I should tell you because we had a deal and... and like it or not, this is work related so... I found out today that the man who broke into my apartment died. I'm not being charged with anything," she continued on quickly, sensing his question just by the look on his face. "It's already been filed as self-defense but it's how he died that caught SHIELD's radar."

"Cardiac arrest?" Steve asked, knowing that was exactly how the official papers had been filed in Clint's death; Coulson's as well.

"It's not unheard of," Maria said, nodding that he was correct. "There was enough trauma... but that's not even the half of it. Detective Myers, the man working the case..."

"I remember him."

"He was in a car accident. Coded en route to the hospital."

"It could be just that," Steve said, leaning closer as he did so. "An accident."

"Jasper said the same thing," Maria returned as Steve shifted back into his original position. "He knows better. We all know better. Morse is looking into it but even if she finds out how it was done, we still won't know who. Or why. What they want. What they were trying to accomplish."

"We'll get to that," Steve said evenly, "but right now, how are you?"

"I'm..." Maria began, but catching his eye, she let the words trail off. "I don't know. I'm responsible for this. For these murders and... and I don't know how I am right now."

"It wasn't your fault."

"If I had followed protocol --"

"Don't do that. Once you start second guessing every decision --"

"Not every decision, but that one. That one... You were right," she said, determined to look him in the eyes without wavering. "I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to be a player in this game and... and it's not a game. It shouldn't have happened. If I would have followed protocol --"

"Maria, if you would have followed protocol they would have locked you up. You might be... You can't guess at what might have happened and you can't do that to yourself. And you shouldn't. You made a decision based on the information you had. No one can fault you for that."

"You did."

"I was wrong," he said immediately. "It was difficult to see you... I don't think of you as someone who needs subterfuge, but sometimes we all have parts to play and it wasn't fair. My reaction wasn't fair. I'm sorry for it."

"Even if you were right?" she asked with a yawn.

"I wasn't right, I was angry," Steve said. 

"At me."

"At the situation," he clarified. "I'm still angry... frustrated that we don't know more and that nothing has been resolved."

"I know the feeling," she said, leaning back and relaxing a bit more than before. "Even with Agent Coulson and Barton back, we don't know anything. They kept them so sedated and confined that there's nothing they can tell us. And on top of that, the agents who were involved, are gone. We can't track them, trace them... it's like they disappeared off the face of the planet."

"Dr. Ross might find something in Captain Danvers's file."

"She might," Maria admitted, shutting her eyes for a long pause. "You think Stark is onto something?"

"Maybe it didn't start with that accident," Steve conceded, "but it did escalate after the fact."

Maria leaned back further, letting her head rest against the back of the couch as she shut her eyes again. She nodded, as if in thought, but after a moment Steve realized her breathing had changed.

"Maria?" he said, reaching out and touching her gently on the knee.

Her eyes slid lazily open. 

"I'm sorry," she yawned, stretching her arms up over her head before looking back at him. "I don't think I've slept for..."

"Days?" he guessed, reluctantly moving away from her again.

"Feels like years."

"Well, don't let me keep you," he said sincerely as he got to his feet and offered her his hand. "We can continue tomorrow."

Maria accepted his help without any comment or complaint. She even flashed him a brief smile.

"Thank you for listening," Maria said once she'd reached the door. "Today has been brutal. The last few days have been brutal," she continued, shaking her head as if to rid herself of the memories. "Maybe we'll get lucky and this was all just a parting blow. Some last ditch attempt to inflict some damage or..."

"I'm not sure how much luck any of us actually have," he grinned. "And I didn't think you believed in luck anyway."

"I don't," she returned with a soft laugh. "But I'm so tired right now I'd believe in anything."

"Then you should definitely get some sleep," he said, but neither of them moved.

Maria hesitated with her hand on the door, not sure why it was so suddenly awkward. They were standing so close and they weren't just co-workers, she rationalized. Maybe they weren't close friends, but Steve was the closest thing she had to a real friend in a very long time. In her sleep deprived state she began to reason out all the ways they should probably be able to leave one another without it being strange or stilted. Maria quickly deduced a handshake would be too formal and a kiss on the cheek would be too personal, but a hug... 

She thought she could just hug him, that would be natural, because friends do that all the time. A hug didn't imply any level of commitment. It was a friendly gesture that people did all the time. 

And then she thought about what it would be like to be in his arms and...

"Goodnight," she said with a quick nod as she turned to go.

"Goodnight," he called after her, stepping out into the hallway and waiting until she was on the elevator to head back inside.

Maria hadn't looked back.


	5. Chapter 5

v.

"We can do this later."

"Why would we postpone?" Bruce asked, not bothering to look up from his computer screen as he posed the question.

Natasha rolled her eyes but held her tongue. If Bruce wanted to pretend that today was just like yesterday, she wasn't going to stop him. If he wanted to act like he wasn't acutely aware that Dr. Betty Ross was not only in the building, but currently being ushered around by Pepper and Tony, that was his prerogative.

She really had no room to judge.

"Okay," he said, sliding off his chair and walking over to where she was currently seated, "it's fairly straightforward. I'd like you to wear these," he said, holding out a rather large looking headset, "and watch the screen. Random pictures will appear at half-minute intervals. While they are on the screen I want you to type down whatever first comes to mind. You can type, can't you?"

"Yes," she said coolly.

"Sorry," he shrugged. "I wasn't sure if typing was an assassin's skill."

"It is if you work for SHIELD."

"Good," he said with a smile. "Don't worry if you can't come up with anything. I don't want you to over think it. Just record your gut reaction."

"What are these for?" she asked, holding up the headset.

"They're sound cancelling," he explained. "To help you focus on the image and nothing else."

"I am capable of doing two things at once," Natasha said, sitting a little stiffer than before.

"Humor me," Bruce said as Natasha stared at him for a moment, but he was unrelenting. "We'll go in fifteen minute intervals. If you'd like, I can lock the lab."

"Why would you do that?" she asked shortly, sliding the headset on and over her ears as if the idea didn't bother her in the least. "Let's begin."

Bruce only shook his head slightly on the way back to his terminal to begin the process. He hoped that by showing her as many images as he could, they could eliminate the effectiveness of any potential triggers in the future. Her reactions to each image was being recorded into a database so that the information could be correlated and cataloged. The hope was that she would recognize the feelings associated with a true trigger and be able to better combat it herself.

They continued on in silence, Natasha reviewing each image and Bruce working on his secondary project of reviewing Captain Danvers's file, for some time until Tony showed up at the door.

"Hey," he said, overriding the lock and striding into the room unrepentantly, "are you two going to hide in here all day?"

"No one's hiding, Tony," Bruce said evenly. "We're working."

"Well, take a break," Tony said as he casually pulled up the results of the tests so far and quickly scanned through them. "Darcy ordered lunch for twenty, which I grant isn't going to go far with Thor and Steve around, but if you act fast there might be a morsel or two in it for you both."

"I'd rather get this done," Bruce said, keeping his eyes on his monitor.

"No, thanks," Natasha said, echoing the sentiment.

"Is this about avoiding Dr. Ross?" Tony asked wearily. " Because it's a small Tower. You're bound to run into one another at some point and you might as well get it over with."

"It's actually not a small Tower and I will take my chances," Bruce said, his tone brisk.

"Fine," Tony sighed. "What about you? Why are you avoiding your boyfriend?"

"Stark, I'm not twelve. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Twelve year-olds have boyfriends?" Tony asked reflexively. "Doesn't matter. You know what I mean and who I mean and what exactly is the problem now?"

"Does it matter what the problem is?" Bruce asked. "It's not your concern."

"And it's not a problem," Natasha insisted. "We're adjusting. I think we're allowed that," she said sharply as she rose to her feet.

"Well, have fun," Tony shrugged, heading for the door. "Both of you."

Bruce didn't look up again until he was certain Tony was out of the room and onto the elevator. When he did, he wasn't surprised to see Natasha staring at him.

"What?"

"It would be better if we joined the group," she stated.

"Better for whom?"

"For all of us," she answered. "Tony is only going to get worse if we both keep avoiding everyone and it's not good for morale."

"I think morale will survive."

"We're both going to see them at this meeting this afternoon," Natasha continued to press. "Better to break the ice now."

Bruce stopped typing and sighed, taking a moment to rub his eyes and consider the situation.

"And I'm hungry," Natasha added with a faint twinge that was almost a smile.

"Well," he said, getting to his feet, "we can't expect you to work on an empty stomach."

Natasha gave him a real smile and led the way out of the lab.

The common area adjacent to the communal kitchen was crowded. Bruce knew everyone there but he still hesitated in the doorway as he looked once around the room. 

She was hard to miss.

Betty was sitting with Jane and Darcy in the farthest corner, seemingly content but Bruce knew better. She was smiling and engaging in the conversation, but whenever there was a lull Betty would reach up and casually rub the knuckles of her right hand briefly over her chin. It was her nervous habit that it had taken years for Bruce to decipher.

It made him nervous.

Not nervous but something. Something deep and disturbing and decidedly not himself. Bruce had felt the rumbling within for days now, but never quite as pronounced as it was at this moment. It was as if there was something in the air that was wrong.

And then she caught his eye.

Betty spotted him and held his glance for a moment, giving him a quick nod before turning her eyes away.

And like that it was okay again. The rumbling was still there, still deep in his chest, but it was no longer as loud. It was manageable again. It was really okay.

Seeing Betty always made him feel like everything was going to be okay even if he knew it was a lie.

Natasha tapped him on the arm and motioned for him to follow and he readily complied. Together they stood picking at the buffet laid out on just about every flat surface available. Finally satisfied with their plates, a new dilemma arose. Where were they to sit?

Jasper caught Natasha attention first, waving her over to the free chairs across from himself and Maria. It wouldn't have been Natasha first choice, or even her second, but beggars can't be choosers, or so she'd heard.

Bruce didn't seem to mind nearly as much as Natasha did; or Maria for that matter.

As she expected, Jasper launched immediately into some techno-babble that only Stark would really appreciate. This time it was about the device they'd found jamming Hill's communicator. They still hadn't identified the origin and Jasper was trying to elicit Bruce's help in the operation. Natasha tried to pay attention, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two men as they discussed the various ways the device could potentially be reverse-engineered, but soon grew bored and turned to Maria, surprised by what she found.

The other woman had bags under her eyes that no amount of concealer could mask. She was paler than usual, almost sickly in hue, and there were even a few stray strands of hair falling out from the back of her updo. Maria wasn't even eating, just pushing her food around the plate endlessly with a far off look in her eyes.

Averting her eyes before she could catch Maria's attention, Natasha shifted her focus and found Clint sitting nearby at a table with Thor and Steve. She watched him for a moment, half expecting him to turn and at least acknowledge her, but he was either too intent on the conversation at hand or at ignoring her.

Natasha turned away, no longer hungry and ready to leave and get back to work.

"So you have no idea who could have made that device?" Bruce was asking Jasper.

"We don't even know what material they used," Jasper stressed. "Bobbi linked up JARVIS with the SHIELD database on known thingamajigs and there is literally nothing like this in the world."

"Have you asked Thor to take a look?" Natasha asked, half-joking, but no one could tell by the way she'd said it.

"That's not a bad idea," Bruce said immediately. 

"Do Asgardians use communicators?" Maria asked skeptically.

"I don't know," Bruce admitted. "Probably not."

"Thor," Jasper said, half turning in his chair to face the man, "how do you communicate on Asgard?"

"With words," he answered completely straight-faced, causing Steve and Clint to smile in response.

"He meant via long distances," Bruce explained, grinning some himself. "How do you communicate via long distances on Asgard?"

"With loud words," he answered, cracking his own smile at the end as everyone laughed. "But," Thor continued, once everyone had settled down, "to speak true, we have no need of these communicators you Midgardians are so fond of. If we have cause to speak to one who is not near, we travel to them."

"But have you seen these kinds of devices from other realms?" Bruce asked, still hoping they were on the right track.

"I have not."

"Well, we tried," Jasper shrugged.

"They don't hand out blue ribbons for trying," Tony said, joining them at their table, "but that is farther than I've got. Farther than I'm going to get; I've got half a dozen new IDs to make before this meeting. Or, well, after. You're not in a hurry for one, are you Sitwell?"

"Half a dozen?" Maria asked. "I thought you were trying to be exclusive."

"Sitwell's practically living here."

"Temporarily," the other man interjected. "I'm just waiting on my transfer papers to go back through and then I'll be out apartment hunting. Again."

"Too late. You're getting a card," Tony decided. "Morse needs one. Thor," he said, beginning to tick them off on his fingers. "Dr. Ross and Agent Coulson."

"That's still only five."

"Well, Barton lost his, so that makes six," Tony finished.

"Sorry about that," Clint shrugged. "Next time I'm kidnapped I'll try and keep a closer eye on it."

"Or, you know," Tony said with a smirk, "you can just not get kidnapped."

"Working on it," Clint said shaking his head, but clearly unbothered.

Natasha couldn't help looking at him and this time he stared back. They held one another's gaze for a moment as everyone around them continued on with their conversations. 

But it was only that, a moment.

After lunch Natasha and Bruce retreated back to the lab for the few hours left to them before Fury's big meeting.

When two o'clock rolled around everyone was in place.

In all her anxiety over Clint, Natasha hadn't thought about what the impact of seeing Phil again would be like. She and Bruce had purposefully timed their arrival to leave little time for talk before the meeting began, and she'd wished she hadn't. There was a lot she wanted to say to Phil, but as usual it couldn't be done. She had to be satisfied with a look, and was, given the one he returned.

It was reassuring that their relationship had not changed.

"We have a lot to go over," Fury said, not wanting to waste any more time. "The World Security Council has tasked us with finding and eliminating this threat that we know almost nothing about. These," he said, pointing to the screen as several pictures of various SHIELD agents appeared, "are the seventeen people that deserted their posts and are believed to be involved in this operation in some capacity. We can't find them. Worse than that, we had no idea they were double-dealing. None. We're flying blind on this one, so I ask, what do we do?"

"What about known organizations?" Morse asked. "Known terrorists? Extremists?"

"Agent Hill and I have already compiled a list," Jasper answered. "We've ruled out the big players but there is no one on the radar. This whole incident didn't even register a blip on the international scene, let alone the domestic one."

"Well," Tony said, kicking up his feet, "we know they'd need money. Lots of it. That'd rule out some organizations from the get-go. The tech they have is just too advanced. Someone paid well for it. Could be someone new. Some of these agents could have been blackmailed into service. Some of them bribed. Got to think some of them are believers."

"In what though?" Steve asked. "Groups like this, they have agendas and creeds. They have objectives. What are they after? Why are they after it?"

"Their agenda may be just to take SHIELD out," Phil suggested. 

"But with their technology," Tony said, shaking his head, "why all the intrigue? I'm guessing they could have busted their way in through the firewalls if they wanted. Why steal people and not get anything from them?"

"We're not sure that's true," Fury added.

"You have no recollection at all of what they did?" Bruce asked, shifting his attention between the two men in question.

Phil and Clint exchanged a quick look, which seemed to be all they needed to decide how to answer the question best.

"We were both kept heavily sedated and under lock and key at almost all times," Phil answered. "What they got out of the experiments they performed, I can't say."

"What about this Captain Danvers?" Tony asked. 

"I'm sorry," Dr. Ross interrupted, before Phil had a chance to speak. "Sorry," she repeated, as she took a quick glance around the room. "It's just, I've gone over the reports you sent and I was just thinking about what you said, about this tech you found. The Sentry you called it?" she asked Thor, who nodded in agreement as Morse pulled up the image again on the screen. "Well, given the documentation Agent Morse was able to come up with, the directorate in SHIELD that examined it had all the same questions you have now. They didn't know how it was made or who made it. They couldn't identify the composition of the metal or the design. And it's signature frequency was singularly unique."

"What are you getting at?" Tony asked.

"What if they're both Kree?" Betty suggested. "If you can obtain the detailed reports, or better yet a piece of this thing, you could compare them but even without those reports, I'd hazard there is enough in common to suggest a link in origin."

"The Kree are not here," Thor said firmly. "From what I know of them, if they were, we would not be having this discussion. We would know. They may have been observing, deciding their course of action, or biding their time, but they are direct. They will come for Midgard directly in their time. They will not bother with infiltration or espionage. The Kree will either deem you worthy or not, but either way, they will attempt to bring you to heel."

"Okay, wait," Clint said, shaking his head and trying to follow along. "Can we back this up for a minute, for those of us who were in isolation. This thing," he said, pointing at the screen, "how do you know what it is?"

"My brother," Thor said shortly.

Clint let out a huff of air, pressing on, "Okay. And he says it's Kree? Fine, but... but how did the Chitauri know any of this? What if they're just feeding him false information? Or what if he's feeding false information to you?"

Thor looked as if he was ready to reply, but Tony got there first.

"We know Loki lies," Tony said with a shrug. "But we've got nothing else to go on. Besides, when this thing went bang and took out Danvers, things really started to pick up so... he may be telling us the truth this time."

"Speaking of Captain Danvers," Steve said, "when will we be informing her family?"

"Informing her family of what?" Fury asked.

"That she's alive," Tony answered as if it was obvious.

"We don't know if that's true," Phil said, looking down as he did so.

"But we do know she wasn't killed in some training accident," Steve pressed. "Doesn't her family deserve to know at least that much?"

Phil stared at Steve for a moment, as if at a loss for an answer, before turning to Director Fury.

"When we have answers, so will they," Fury decided.

"And if we don't get answers?" Tony asked, mildly annoyed. 

"Then what?" Steve added, clearly annoyed.

"What do you want me to do?" Fury shot back at them both.

"Try and understand..." Phil started to say, but Maria quickly cut in.

"Listen," she interjected, "until we have answers, there is no point in telling her family. They've had four years to deal with the death of their daughter. Do you want us to show up and tell them it was all a lie? That she might be alive? That she's being held captive by some organization we can't even identify?" Sensing Tony's rebuttal, Maria plowed on. "Because we don't know if she is alive. Or where she is. Or if we can even bring her home. Do you want us to be cruel to be truthful? Do you want to take away their peace of mind so that you can feel better? Or can't we just wait until we have something to really say first."

"Ignorance is bliss," Tony replied sarcastically.

"And sometimes knowledge is cruel," Maria fired back at him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a really bad week and have had zero time to write, but this one is ready so here goes. Enjoy!

vi.

"Last thing," Fury said as they were wrapping up their meeting, some three hours after they'd gone over the whole situation in great detail. When he'd gone over the deaths of the detective and burglar involved in the incident the other night Steve noted Maria's stare. She'd done a good job of repressing her feelings but he could see the strain behind her eyes even if no one else noticed it. 

"Structure," Fury continued. "If SHIELD is going to continue to work alongside the Avengers, we're going to need it. I need one person for myself and my deputy to meet. I don't care who and I don't care how you decide it, but it needs to be done. And I'd like to keep two of my agents on your roster."

Tony looked first at Steve and then to Clint, Bruce and then finally at Thor before saying, "We'll get back to you on that first one, but Romanoff and Morse aren't an issue."

"Good," Fury said shortly. "I've named Agent Coulson my new Deputy Director."

"Congrats, Phil," Tony said with a smile, but Steve and Morse both looked at Maria who was refusing to make eye-contact with anyone and made no visible sign that the news upset her in any fashion.

It was the same stare from earlier.

"He'll be my voice when I'm unavailable," Fury continued. "Agent Hill will be heading up operations and Agent Sitwell will handle communications."

After that there wasn't much to say. Director Fury left and Maria and Jasper followed almost immediately after without saying anything to anyone. 

"We need to sort this out now," Steve said quietly to Tony.

"Now?" he returned, but seeing how serious Steve was quick to nod in agreement. "Okay, um, everyone," he said loudly as he addressed the room, "we're going to have a quick Avengers-only meeting so... get out. Now, please. Out."

"Subtle," Jane said with a laugh. "Come on, Betty. We'll get some dinner. Care to join us, Agent Coulson?"

"Thank you," he returned with a smile. "I will."

Bobbi Morse didn't say anything, just quietly headed towards the door.

"Um, excuse me, Agent Morse," Tony called out. "Did you sleep through the end? What part of 'on the roster' didn't you catch? You're an Avenger. We're having a meeting. Or are you already shirking your duties?"

Bobbi turned back towards the room and realized he was serious. She'd expected Romanoff to stay, but she hadn't thought they'd extend the invitation to her as well. 

It was a pleasant surprise.

"I'm working on your card, by the way," Tony said to her as she sat back down at the table. "And yours," he said, turning to Clint. "But I'm tired and hungry so let's get this over with. Captain wants to vote now so --"

"That's not what I wanted to sort out, Tony," Steve interrupted, confused by the look of surprise he received in return. Steve had thought it would be obvious what was wrong. "Fury's changes. I don't like them."

"What?" Tony asked.

"What's not to like?" Clint asked at nearly the same time. "All he did was swap two positions and I'm fine with it. It's how it should be."

"But it was never the plan," Natasha interjected, the only other person in the room besides Clint who knew what the original hierarchy was supposed to be. "Coulson was going to head up operations. It's what he wanted."

"Things change," Clint said pointedly.

"I don't see how this is a problem," Tony shrugged indifferently. "Coulson has to be as good as Hill. Better even."

"You're biased," Steve said.

"And you're not?" Tony fired back at him.

"You've worked with Agent Coulson more than I have," Steve explained. "Of course I am."

"And that's the only reason?" Tony continued to push.

"They have different styles," Bruce said, trying to smooth things over.

"I agree," Thor added, "but surely we can worth with either one."

"All I am trying to say is that they are two very different jobs," Steve said, stamping down his annoyance at Tony, who was trying to make this personal when it really wasn't. "Whoever heads up operations will have to be the type of person who will do what it takes to get a job done. Even if it means deception. The deputy position is different. We need someone in that position who will tell us the truth, no matter what. We need someone who will give us the information we need, even when Fury doesn't think we need it. Operations can be gray. The deputy has to be black and white."

"So you think Phil is going to lie to us?" Clint asked, clearly growing angry.

"No," Steve stated, frustrated that he had no better way to explain. "I just know that Agent Coulson has been on the operational side of missions for SHIELD for years because he's good at it. Agent Hill has been working in the deputy spot, knows how to get the job done, and there is no reason to make these changes."

"Except that, from what I've heard," Clint returned, "she hasn't been doing her job lately."

Steve kept his mouth shut but his eyes spoke his disapproval while Natasha quirked an eyebrow in surprise. She knew Clint didn't like Maria, but he'd never complained about how she got the job done.

"What's happened was hardly Maria's fault," Bruce finally said to break the tension in the room.

"Director Fury has made his choice," Natasha said smoothly, even though it didn't sit well with her either. They really didn't have a say in it. 

"And I've said my piece," Steve said with a nod and a grimace, knowing when an argument was futile.

"Good, so," Tony said, dragging the last word out and feeling uneasy. It had been a long time since he and Steve had disagreed so absolutely on a matter, "let's make our choice. How do we want to decide this thing? Who gets the job?"

"Let's just do it," Clint shrugged. "Tony, I think you should take it."

"I agree," Thor seconded, catching Tony off guard completely.

Tony gave Steve a look, but even though he was clearly still thinking about Fury's changes, he didn't seem upset or even surprised by this latest turn of events.

"My vote is for Steve," Natasha added, after which everyone turned to Bruce.

"Steve," Bruce said after a moment's consideration. "Sorry, Tony."

Tony shrugged his shoulders indifferently, honestly unbothered.

"That ties it up," Tony said, looking at Steve with a bit of amusement. The two of them had been co-leading the team and he kind of assumed, whichever of them won, that trend would continue. Not that he had expected to be in the running. Not really. "What do you say, Morse? Don't put Steve through the heartache of voting for himself. Or worse, of voting for me to avoid a tie because clearly I am voting for myself," he continued, which finally earned a faint smile from Steve who had been glowering for the past several minutes. "So, who's it going to be?"

Bobbi was momentarily stuck. She could easily see the pros and cons for either appointment, but really hadn't been expecting a say in it. Clearly they were serious when they meant she was an Avenger, and after all this time, maybe that had been earned.

"Okay," she sighed, "um... Stark. My vote is for you, Tony."

Tony was momentarily speechless. He'd really thought Bobbi would vote for Steve.

"Congratulations," Steve said, actually shaking his hand and looking completely sincere as he did it.

"Thank you," Tony said, still a little dumbstruck as he stood up. "So, um... my first action as leader is to set my term. Let's say six months? Six months from now we vote again and --"

"Give it at least a year," Steve interrupted, to which everyone around the room nodded in agreement. "We'll decide in a year if we need another vote."

"Okay," Tony said with a nod. "I feel like I need a gavel or something. All right, Avengers... disassemble. Go eat. We'll talk more later."

Steve stood to go with the rest of them, but Tony tapped him on the shoulder letting him know to hang back.

As soon as they were alone in the room, Tony turned towards him, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I thought they were all going to vote for you."

"That's because you sell yourself short," Steve returned.

"See," Tony fired back at him. "That's something a leader would say. I'm not that guy. Remember?"

"Well, you're a fast learner," Steve said in earnest. "And you're going to do great. But Tony, be honest with me, you're fine with these changes Fury is making? Don't they seem sudden? Agent Coulson just got back. Is he really ready for this?"

"Is Clint?" Tony asked in return.

"I wasn't sure Clint was ready before all this happened," Steve admitted, leaning back against the table. "You tell me. You've talked with him more than I have."

_"Speaking of Mr. Barton,"_ JARVIS interrupted, unasked, _"if I may voice my concerns about his health."_

"You may not," Tony fired back at the AI, only half-jokingly. "You know how he hates you checking up on him."

_"But sir, his temperature --"_

"JARVIS, the last thing Barton would want is another trip to medical. He's a big boy. Let him handle it. Pretty sure he knows how to open up a bottle of Tylenol if he needs to. Unless it's critical, leave him alone."

_"Very well, sir."_

"What was I saying?" Tony asked, then barreled on without waiting for an answer. "Barton. Yeah, he seems fine. Still quiet and moody but eager, although I don't think he's been back to the range."

"I thought that would be the first place he'd go."

"After Natasha's room?"

"Tony."

"Sorry," he said without looking like he was in the slightest. "Yeah, me too. Hell, maybe he is going at night. It's not like I follow him around like JARVIS does. But back it up a minute. You're really pissed about this re-org, aren't you?"

"I'm not angry."

"You looked angry," Tony replied. "Still kind of do. Is this about you no longer being able to get the inside scoop from your girlfriend?"

"Agent Hill and I are not involved romantically," Steve said. And if he wasn't angry before, he was getting there now. 

"Fine," Tony said, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. No one is going to call you out for breaking regs or anything if the two of you wanted to date if that's what's holding you back. Oh, and I'm the leader now, I can officially sanction it. Date whomever you want. Freely and openly. Most leaders would frown on fraternization; I embrace it."

"Tony, it's not that simple."

"Which means what exactly?" When Steve didn't answer, Tony rolled his eyes and continued, " It is that simple. Why does everyone around here think these things are so hard? You know what's hard? Reverse-engineering alien tech. That's hard. Dating is easy. Ask her out. Granted, I have no idea where the two of you would go. Frankly, that is mind-boggling, and frightening, but the asking part is simple. You like her. She likes you. The rest is just semantics."

"It's not."

"Why not?"

"Because she's been very clear."

"She said no?" Tony asked back at him, surprised.

"Not exactly," Steve admitted, his shoulders dropping and feeling every bit as confused as the subject always made him feel.

"Okay, so you asked her out and... then what?" Tony continued to question, his own arms crossed over his chest as he attempted to puzzle it out. "Did she walk away? Give you that disappointed frown she's always wearing? What? What is it?"

"I didn't actually ask," Steve finally said and upon seeing the surprise on Tony's face continued quickly on, "but we had talked before about dating and co-workers and how complicated that makes things."

"She said the two of you dating would be complicated?"

"It would," Steve answered. "But no. She didn't necessarily say it that way."

"What were the exact words she said?"

"She was explaining some of the regulations," Steve said, shifting his weight and feeling very uncomfortable. "How human resources works and what they do within SHIELD and just in general. We didn't really have that... and um..."

"Let me get this straight," Tony interjected. "You never asked her out. You never explicitly said you were interested in her or in dating her. You've never talked about the two of you specifically in a romantic boyfriend and girlfriend kind of way. And because she gave you an HR talk, which SHIELD probably asked her to give you by the way, you think she's not interested? Because Steve, she's pretty obviously interested."

"You don't know that."

"I have eyes," Tony said emphatically, not wanting to laugh but almost unable to stop himself. "I know that."

"Listen, it's not like I haven't tired," Steve said, shaking his head and refusing to be dragged further into conversation. "I tried to broach the subject and she shut it down. She was being nice."

"Steve, you are talking about Maria Hill. She is not nice."

"You've never really given her a chance."

"I don't mean... I think she's a good person," Tony explained. "I do. But she's not the spare your feelings kind of gal. She just isn't. If you were direct with her, she'd be direct with you. Neither of you knows how to be subtle so... just ask."

"But --"

"No," Tony interrupted, shaking his head and refusing to hear any more. "Ask."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. I'm hoping to have this finished and fully published before Thanksgiving. I hope. Also, thank you all, this week was much better than the last!

vii.

He felt her eyes on him long before she actually approached. Knew she was hovering near the back of the room and biding her time.

It didn't bother him.

He just continued on. Steady breath. Steady grip. Draw. Aim. Fire. It was simple and repetitive and relaxing and very much needed.

"You can't really believe that Phil not heading up operations is a good thing?" Natasha asked, having finally gotten near enough to speak her mind.

"I can believe a lot of things," Clint answered, never taking his eyes off the target.

"Phil never wanted that job before. What's changed?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Because I'm asking you."

"Maybe being locked away for a year changed his priorities."

"It was that bad?" Natasha asked, her tone shifting towards kindness.

When he didn't immediately answer, Natasha folder her arms over her chest and waited. She waited and watched as he nocked an arrow and held it, as if mulling things over. Clint paused like a man in prayer.

He let it fly and missed, dropping his head and muttering a curse along the way.

Her eyes drifted down the range.

He'd missed more than he'd hit.

"What did they do?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," he returned bitterly. "Nothing. They didn't do anything. I'm just out of practice. It's been months. I'll get better."

"I'll get better too, you know."

"Why?" he asked. "For who? I'm sorry, Natasha. I'm not playing this game anymore. I can't. I won't live my life waiting. I've done enough of that."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "Not this. Maybe I thought we could just pick up where we left off. That I could just come back and it would be the same but... but maybe you were right all along. Maybe this was never a good idea. No, scratch that. It wasn't a good idea. No maybe."

"You're serious," she stated.

"You know I am," he confirmed. "I've had enough. I have to move on. Besides, it seems you already have."

"Where is this coming from?"

"Don't play dumb," he said, lowering the bow to his side and finally turning to face her directly. "I have eyes. I can see where this is headed. It's fine. It happens."

"I don't..." she started to say, but trailed off as her focus narrowed in on him. "Bruce? You think... Are you serious? You are," she decided before he could answer. "How could you think that?"

"That you'd move on?" he asked, hands clenched. His knuckles white from the effort. "How could I not? You thought I was dead."

"I thought I killed you."

"Doesn't matter," he said, trying for indifference as he shrugged, but it didn't look natural on him.

"It really does."

"What do you want from me?" he asked. "Do you want me to pretend I don't remember what you did? Want me to pretend I was just away on a mission? What? What am I supposed to do here? How am I supposed to act?"

"I don't know," she said quietly, her eyes scrutinizing his features more carefully than before, but she wasn't quite able to get a read on him.

"Neither do I," he fired back at her dismissively.

"Then I'll go," she decided, turning her back on him to leave.

Natasha made it all the way to the door, almost expecting him to say something, to try and stop her, but he didn't. Clint just let her walk away.

She'd never felt so empty.

As she was leaving, Agent Morse was arriving.

Bobbi Morse walked straight past Natasha without giving her a second glance. She knew all about the problems Romanoff and Barton were having and she just didn't care. She didn't have time to care. None of them did.

There were much bigger problems.

"Barton," Morse barked as soon as she'd gotten within shouting distance. "I've been thinking..."

"Sounds dangerous," he muttered with his back still to her.

"Funny," she returned dryly, leaning stopping just behind him, and like Natasha before her, crossing her arms. "You might know more than you think you do about this organization."

He paused, his whole body momentarily tense before he'd let out a long breath of air.

"How so?" he asked, turning to meet her.

"Well, to start with, the drugs they used on you. I know it's been over a month and it's all out of your system," she continued on without giving him a second to interrupt, "but medical only did a blood sample. We could test your hair."

"They shaved my head."

"Four months ago," she pointed out. "It grew back, Barton."

Bobbi watched as Clint reflexively ran a hand through his hair as he shook his head.

"Also, you saw the plane, right?"

"In pieces."

"But you saw it. I think if we went through and reconstructed the crash site, virtually," she added, "then we might be able to determine the make or model. We know that, we'll have a better idea how far that bird could fly. It's not much to go off of, but it's more than we have now."

"What if it's not anything cataloged? Everything in that compound was nothing like I'd ever seen."

"It's worth a shot."

"Sounds like a big waste of time to me," Clint shrugged. "Maybe you'll be able to find out what they were using on us, but we were both drugged during the transfer. I don't remember the plane crash at all. It's all blurred and none of it feels like it really happened. Now, if you want to try and reconstruct it, I'll help, but I don't know how much help I'll be. But, I'm done getting poked and prodded in the name of science," he said as he took a few steps closer to her. He set his bow down and pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, holding out his forearm as he did so. "This is what they did. A month later and I'm still bruised up like an addict."

"I swear there would be no needles involved."

"No," he said shortly, pulling his sleeve back down and shaking his head roughly.

"All right," she sighed. "I guess I can ask Agent Coulson."

"Good luck with that."

"But you will help with the reconstruction?" Bobbi pressed. "I've set up a room here to work out of."

"When are you starting?" he asked as he picked his bow back up and readied it for more practice.

"Tomorrow."

He took a breath. Steadied his grip. Drew. Aimed. Fired.

"I might stop by."

Bobbi nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her, and stood back and watched as Clint resumed firing arrows down range with stunning speed, but less than perfect accuracy.

After a good fifteen minutes or more had passed, Clint wheeled back around to Bobbi.

"What else?"

"Nothing," she said evenly. "I'm just watching. I've never seen you in action."

"Yeah, well, I am impressive," he said sarcastically as he stowed the bow and began to strip off his arm guard and gloves.

Bobbi gave him a hard look. He was pale to the point of being a little green even. Like he hadn't been sleeping, which truthfully, none of them had. But it was something more. His eyes were tinged with red and he had rubbed at them more than once since she'd begun watching him.

"Did they -- " she started to ask, but the look he gave her was enough to stop her short. "I shouldn't pry," she conceded. "I just want to help."

Clint locked down the case with a snap and a click before meeting her eyes again and let out an audible sigh.

"I think they did something to my eyes," he admitted. "I can't see as clearly as I did before. Maybe I'm just out of practice but... but I can't remember what they did and it's..."

"Probable?" she suggested.

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'making me nuts'," he said with half a smile. "It's probably nothing. It's probably just in my head but..."

"Well, there are no less than four doctorates in this building. I think one of them could give you an eye exam, just to put your mind at ease. I'm not a genius myself, but I could figure it out if you prefer to keep it quiet."

"I appreciate it but I've got like exactly one job on this team and if I can't hit targets like I used to, I'm pretty sure everyone else is going to notice. You know, it may not even be anything they did to me. Maybe I'm just getting too old for this."

"Oh God, Barton," Bobbi said with a laugh, "cry me a river. Yeah, we're all getting older. Every damn day," she said with a smile, which he returned in full. "If your eyesight isn't what it was, get some contacts. Get LASIK. That's fixable."

"Just like that, huh?"

"Yeah," she returned, still smiling and glad to see he was no longer glowering the same way he had been before. "I mean, I know it will be hard for you to live with yourself, knowing you're a little less than perfect."

"I've never claimed to be perfect."

"Sure you haven't," Bobbi dismissed, but it wasn't unkind. "Tell you what, you help me with my reconstruction. Stop by my work room tomorrow and before we start I'll set you up with an eye exam. It'll be our little secret."

"I'm not a spy anymore," Clint said, still smiling.

"Spies aren't the only ones that keep secrets."

Clint paused as if considering it before finally nodding.

"Okay, Bobbi," he agreed. "You're on."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting and responding. Life is busy. I'll try and get another chapter out by the end of the three day weekend. Enjoy!

viii.

Steve was beginning to get the impression that Maria was avoiding him.

Deciding to take Tony's advice had been the easy part. He'd never been comfortable avoiding an issue, and ignoring it obviously wasn't working. He had to just be honest and open about how he felt and that was all he could do. What happened after that was up to her.

But first he had to not only find her but get her alone.

Steve had no luck that night and the next day Tony asked him to come along to the Helicarrier. Despite being elected as the leader of the Avengers, Tony didn't plan on making the operation a dictatorship. Together they spent most of the day locked up in meetings with Fury and Coulson, with Maria and Jasper joining in occasionally.

That night dinner at the Tower was practically a party as the whole team were there including all of the Avengers, their SHIELD counterparts, and what Tony had dubbed the honorary members, because Pepper had insisted that 'support staff' was inappropriate.

On one hand, Steve was relieved to see it. Everyone seemed to be getting along great, which was what a team needed. On the other hand, it made talking to Maria privately extremely difficult.

And she really was avoiding him; it was the only explanation.

Maria kept purposefully repositioning herself around the room; as far away from Steve as she could get.

Not giving up so much as delaying his plan, Steve took a seat next to Pepper on the couch and tried to join in her conversation with Clint and Bobbi.

Pepper seemed to have forgiven Bobbi for all her deception long ago, and it looked as if Clint had finally done the same. The three of them were laughing and sharing stories and Steve tried his best to join in, but continuously felt as if he was half a beat behind the conversation.

Casting about the room he realized he wasn't the only one having a difficult time.

Behind blank eyes and a rigid posture, Natasha looked miserable.

Quietly excusing himself, Steve crossed the room to Natasha and took a seat in the empty stool on her left.

"I'm fine," she said before he could even ask.

"I'm starting to think that's code for 'messed up'," Steve said with a faint laugh.

"Huh," Natasha said, nearly smiling but quickly schooling her features and growing stern again. "Huh," she repeated thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Nothing," she dismissed. "How'd our mighty leader do on his first day?" she asked instead, motioning subtly towards Tony who was talking animatedly on the far side of the room with Phil.

"He's going to do fine."

"He has no experience running a military op," Natasha countered skeptically.

"And I have no experience running an entire organization, but he knows how to command. And how to listen."

"We' are talking about Tony Stark, aren't we?" Natasha fired back at him, but he could tell she wasn't serious. Her eyes always gave her away, just enough.

"You're not really worried," he decided.

"I'm not," she admitted, "but I still thought you were the better choice."

"Thanks," he said as she held up her glass, tipping it towards him in salute before taking another sip. "How's Clint?"

"Looks like he's fine from here," she returned evenly. "How's Maria?"

"Avoiding me," he answered honestly, ignoring her defensive jab. "And the experiments with Bruce? They working out for you?"

"Yes," she answered, looking a bit lighter than before. "I think so."

"Good. Think you'll be ready for the next mission?"

"It'll depend on when that is but... yes. I want to be."

"That's really good because we need you, Tasha."

Natasha stared at him for a moment, and for a split second her whole countenance softened. If Steve hadn't have been paying attention, he would of missed it. In that moment she appeared grateful, but it was gone almost instantaneously, almost as soon as it had registered with him.

"Of course you do," she said with an easy shrug.

For several minutes they sat together in silence, each watching the room and its inhabitants as they talked and laughed around them.

"I figured out what's been bothering me," Natasha said suddenly and quietly, turning her eyes back to Steve as if ready to weigh his reaction. "It feels too easy."

Steve nodded and understood how she felt. With almost no effort they'd gotten back two of their own and begun to unravel something larger.

"You know," he said, leaning into the bar as he spoke, "this one time, back with the Commandos, we were just convoying from one base to the next and we came across three abandoned trucks. They were just right there in the middle of the road. No guards. Nothing wrong with them. They were just sitting there. Waiting for us."

"A trap," she interjected.

"I thought so," he said with a smile. "It was a perfect set-up for an ambush, but after we checked things out, swept the area, there was nothing to it. I never found out why or how it happened that those trucks, full of enemy weapons and cargo, a couple of good maps even, were just there for us, but they were."

"You're not going to tell me it was luck or providence are you?"

"No. Some of the guys thought so. Not me. Not really. But sometimes you just catch a break. Good things happen, same as the bad."

"I haven't had a lot of experience with good things happening to me."

"Then maybe you're due."

"Karma. Luck. Coincidence," Natasha rattled off, shaking her head slowly as she did so. "I don't buy it. They're not real. Everything has a story. A reason for existing; for being how we find it."

"Are you saying," Steve began but stopped himself. Moving in closer and lower his voice he started over, "Are you saying you don't believe them?"

Natasha met his gaze and held it. 

She wanted to say no. She really did, but part of her knew Clint was holding out. That he hadn't told them everything. Natasha had no evidence, no real reason to doubt him; just instinct. And maybe instinct was one of those things she shouldn't believe in, like karma or luck, but she did. She'd relied on her own instincts for years and years and they'd served her well.

So while Natasha wanted to say no, she didn't believe them, not completely, she felt it was better to say nothing at all.

"Tasha?" he persisted.

"I'm not saying anything," she answered. "If they're not telling us everything, I'm sure they have their reasons. Or maybe Clint just isn't telling me," she said, with a significant glance back to where he was sitting next to Bobbi.

Steve's eyes followed hers, staring back at the scene he had recently been a part of. It was the most at ease he'd seen Clint since his return, but whether that was Pepper's influence or Bobbi's, it was hard to say.

Clint caught them watching.

His gaze fell first on Steve before slowly sliding over to Natasha. And then, as if indifferent, Clint turned his attention back to the story Bobbi was relating and laughed along with Pepper at the conclusion.

"I know I don't have a lot of experience," Steve said, angling back towards Natasha as he spoke, "but even after all these years, some things never change."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natasha asked.

"He's trying to make you jealous," Tony answered, sliding into the vacant seat on her right and handing her a fresh drink. "Come on. The two of you have probably danced this dance a thousand times before, amiright?"

Natasha glared at Tony who could only stare back at her for so long before pulling a face and looking to Steve for help. Steve gave him a shrug in return and Tony shook his head, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Or not," Tony conceded. "Maybe this is just a completely different Clint Barton that I've never met. A kinder, happier version that laughs and throws glances your way to make sure you're watching, just because."

"Don't start with me, Stark," Natasha snapped as she turned her back on the scene and her attention back to her drink.

"Tony," Steve said warningly before the other man could speak again. "Don't."

"I've got this," he said, tossing his head in Natasha direction. "Trust me." Natasha and Steve simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Besides," Tony continued, "shouldn't you be talking to someone else right now?"

Steve took a quick look around the room and realized Maria had disappeared.

"She just left," Tony said. "You might still catch her at the elevator."

"Thanks" Steve said before saying a quick 'goodnight' to the two of them.

He ended up missing her by mere seconds, the elevator door sliding closed as he stepped around the corner.

"JARVIS?"

_"Agent Hill is heading to the main conference room,"_ the AI answered.

"Thanks," Steve said as he waited for the next car to arrive and followed her up.

When he arrived at the room she already had numerous files pulled up and on display, having evidently settled in for a long night of work.

Maria's attention was caught by the noise of the doors sliding open and she turned her head briefly in Steve's direction.

"Just catching up on my new position," she said without getting out of her seat.

"Did you know?" he asked as he crossed the room towards her, choosing to keep on his feet and lean into the table.

"Yes," she said with a small sigh. "I didn't tell you because it wouldn't have made a difference."

"And you felt you deserved a demotion," he guessed.

"Yes," she admitted with a nod. "I did. Ever since this whole Avenger thing started, I've made mistake after mistake. I've doubted and delayed.... At least I'm getting a chance to rectify some of it. If I can."

"I think it's wrong," Steve said flatly. "You belong in that deputy position."

"Thank you, but you're the only one that feels that way. Fury is disappointed in me. Coulson is mad."

"Why is he mad at you?"

"Because of Barton," she sighed. "Said I should have seen the signs. Could have mitigated his defection. He's right, of course, but... but I'm not good with people. And I'm really not good with Barton."

"And now you'll be in charge of all our SHIELD operations so..."

"I'd better learn quick," she finished for him.

For a minute they sat there in silence as Maria shifted and cataloged the various information on display. Everything they knew was there but it still wasn't nearly enough.

"So this vote," she said after some time, still typing as she did so but her expression had softened. "What were they thinking?"

"That they wanted Tony to lead instead of me," Steve answered with a grin.

"Why?" she asked, but he could tell she wasn't serious. She was passing time. "I thought you were the obvious choice."

"Maybe too obvious."

"But I guess there's a bright side to all this after all," Maria said with a smile as she shut down the information and got to her feet. "If I'm not deputy, at least I don't have to deal with Stark one-on-one. Coulson can have him."

Steve, albeit lacking in experience, knew an opening when he saw one.

"And if I had been chosen?" he began, carefully. "Would you still feel relieved?"

"What? No. Of course not," she dismissed, sitting against the table beside him momentarily before suddenly moving back to her feet and a few steps away. "I have no problems working with you. In fact, I thought we did well together. Why? Would you have a problem with me?"

"None," he answered immediately. "And I thought we worked well, too, but lately --"

"My problem, not yours," she interrupted with a shake of her head and a determined look on her face. "And it's not a problem. It's not an anything. I've been under a lot of stress and you've been great about it. That's all."

"Okay," he said with a nod.

"Good," she said, nodding along with him and backing up towards the door. "That's good. That's settled. We can --"

"Wait, no..."

"No?"

"No, it's settled," he agreed, following after her and stopping a few feet away. "That's fine. I just... We should go out," he blurted out. Maria stood still and stared back at him with confusion. "I would like it if... if you wanted to that is... We should go out sometime."

"Out? Like... I'm sorry, what?" Maria asked.

"There's this exhibit at the Met that I've heard was good and I can't seem to get anyone else to come along..." he explained as Maria's whole body visibly tensed, the surprise draining from her features.

"And you don't want to go alone," she finished for him with rigid precision.

"I could," he shrugged, again getting that feeling that this was all going horribly wrong. That he had to be direct or else this would end very badly. "But I'd like to go with you, if you're interested. If not, we could go somewhere else. I would just like to spend time with you, outside of all this... like a date."

"A date?" she repeated as if she still didn't quite believe him.

"If I'm being too forward," he returned immediately.

"No," she interrupted, quick and sharp. "You're not. You're not being forward at all. I'm just... surprised."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I was under the impression... it doesn't matter," she said with a smile that looked more genuine than any he'd seen from her lately. "The museum sounds interesting. It sounds fun. I have some time on Saturday free."

"Saturday would be great."

"Great," she repeated, still smiling. "We can talk about the specifics later. Maybe catch a late lunch or early dinner?"

"We could make a day of it, if you liked."

"I would like that," Maria said.

"I would, too."


	9. Chapter 9

ix.

"Come on," Tony said, still at Natasha's side even after Steve had left, and determined to get answers, "tell me what's wrong between you and Barton now, so I can fix it, and we can all move on with our lives."

"You're unbelievable," she muttered into her drink.

"I know," he shrugged. "It's a gift."

Tony continued to stare at her as he waited. He didn't really expect her to continue, but he hoped she would. 

"He seems so cold," she finally said quietly, her face still turned away. "Like they broke him. Or I did. He's got no fight left."

"We've all been there."

"And who picked you up?" she asked, inclining her head his way; knowing the answer.

"Pepper."

"After New York," Natasha continued, lowering her voice to ensure no one else would hear them, "I tried. We have an understanding. We always have and I tried to be there for him but... but he needed so much more of me. More than I was used to giving."

Tony finished his drink and flipped the glass over on the bar, stopping to let the words sink in.

"It's a scary thing," he admitted.

"New York was the worst it's ever been, but it was hardly the first time," she continued, still refusing eye contact. Having slowly began to trace the rim of her glass as she spoke. "He's always been fine through a fight. He does his job. Doesn't flinch from it. He knows what needs to be done but afterwards... it takes a toil."

Natasha's eyes darted back to where Clint sat, still laughing and talking directly behind where the two of them sat.

"Where's that toil now?" she asked Tony.

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know him better than you do," he answered after a minute to think through what he was going to say, "but he's been out of that place for over a month. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet or maybe he's already gotten through the hard part on his own."

"He did have Phil."

"He did," Tony agreed, not liking Natasha's tone or train of thought one bit. "Given how things ended --"

"Did he blame me?"

"No," he admitted, immediately and truthfully. "He was worried for you."

"But he blames me now," she said with a brisk nod. "He doesn't even call me Tasha anymore. You all do but he won't... I was concerned about what his reaction would be if this was all true, that he was really coming back to us, but I wasn't prepared."

"I'm not sure how you could have been."

"Clint has loved me for so long... long before I deserved it. Maybe this just proves I don't deserve it because I relied too much... I took for granted he always would love me but he's changed."

"I've been there," Tony said, the corners of his mouth turned down as he thought of Pepper.

"He's changed," she said firmly.

"Well, we don't know what they did to him or to Phil. Not really."

"No," she agreed, meeting his eyes directly for the first time. "We don't."

"What are you..." he started to ask, but Natasha shook off whatever emotion had begun to overtake her as easily as if she was batting her eyelashes.

"It's probably nothing," Natasha decided before tipping back the rest of her drink and getting to her feet, leaving with only a nod for a 'goodbye'.

But even after she'd left, Tony couldn't stop thinking about it.

It kept him up through the night, working in his lab; the place he took all his troubles that were too distant or intangible to bring to Pepper.

"Do you have a minute?"

Tony looked up from the ID card he'd just finished, the last one, and smiled as best he could at Dr. Ross.

"Got a few," he said. "What'd you need?"

"I just wanted to run this by you."

"Not Bruce?"

"You can run it by him later, if you like," she said with a careful smile. "Take a look."

Betty pulled up the data she had and stood back, waiting for Tony to make the connection.

"Is this... how is this possible?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "but Agent Morse wasn't exaggerating when she said Captain Danvers had been altered. This incident changed her right down to her DNA. It's unrecognizable. It's almost inhuman."

Tony held up a finger, silently asking for a minute, before turning to his terminal and pulling up several different files, including Danvers, onto the 3D projector.

"Do they know about these?" Betty asked with a single eyebrow raised.

"Bruce does," Tony admitting as the two of them stood there, visually comparing Danvers's DNA against Steve and Bruce's own. 

"The biometric readers in the cards?" she asked.

"Yep," Tony confirmed. "Got everyone's. But this," he said, closing everything but Danvers's file. "This is way out of my realm of expertise."

"Mine, too," Betty admitted. "You know, we could call --"

"I'm not calling Reed. Reed is an ass."

"Well, I really don't have anything else to offer, so..."

"You're not leaving, are you?" Tony asked, shutting down the protector.

"There's no real reason to stay and I have research of my own. A lab to run. Papers to write."

"I thought... I don't know, you might want to hang out. See how things work."

"I know how things work," Betty said kindly. "And I appreciate what you're trying to do. What you've done. You've changed his life," she said, struggling not to get choked up as she spoke. "Thank you for that. And thank you for letting me in, even if it was just for a little while. Even if it was only to observe."

"So you're really going without... Have you even talked? I don't think I've even seen the two of you in the same room."

"We don't need to talk," she answered, in a slightly exasperated, yet familiar, way. "If we did, we would. When he needs me again, when he can have me back in his life, he'll know. We'll talk then. I'm sure of it."

"When are you going?" he asked, but saw the answer in her eyes. "You're leaving now? Right now? Like..."

"My flight leaves in three hours."

"Wow. Okay, well... have you at least said goodbye?"

"Goodbye," she said, walking over and wrapping him into a warm hug.

"I didn't mean to me," he said perplexed, but Betty offered up no explanation.

With a smile and a wave she was gone.

Tony was still trying to puzzle out her odd behavior an hour later when Bruce showed up in his workshop.

"Betty emailed me the files," he said, shaking his head as he entered the room. "What are you thinking?"

"Why didn't you talk to her?"

"Oh, geez, Tony," Bruce sighed, rubbing his hand over the top of this head. "Not again. You said you brought her here as a consultant and I told you not to do this."

"I can't help myself."

"I know you can't," Bruce muttered, but he didn't sound very forgiving.

"I did bring her in to help out..."

"Which she did."

"Yes," Tony answered, "but I thought the two of you might at least talk. You didn't even talk and now she's gone again."

"Tony," Bruce said, beginning to feel that same familiar churning deep inside, "if I couldn't even say hello to her, how hard do you think goodbye would have been?"

Tony shook his head and frowned.

"I didn't think of it like that."

"I know," Bruce shrugged, trying to fight off his own uneasiness, "but you have to stop. It's good of you to give me a push every now and then, but there are some things I do know better than you."

"I'm sorry," Tony said as the doors to the shop slid open again and Clint walked in. "I am. And I promise to stay out of it from now on."

Bruce wanted to joke that he'd heard that one before, but found he couldn't. He felt ready to split in two and he had to get out of there.

Still calm, still barely in control, Bruce gave him a short nod and without even looking at Clint, he left.

"What'd I just walk in on?" Clint asked, eyeing the door suspiciously.

"It's nothing," Tony said dismissing the topic. "What do you need?"

"JARVIS said you got my ID ready," Clint said. "I'd have stopped by sooner but I was on the range."

"Glutton for punishment," Tony said as he shifted through the contents of his nearest workstations. "I just had this thing."

"Take your time," Clint said as he pushed himself up onto one of the empty tables to take a seat. "I've got nothing better going on."

"Aren't you supposed to be earning a paycheck?" Tony asked with a grin as he continued his search.

"What? I don't get convalescent leave?"

"Take it up with HR," Tony answered, still unable to find what he needed.

"Technically I'm still dead," Clint said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Pepper's got your lawyers working on the paperwork."

"You're welcome."

"SHIELD is sorting out Phil," Clint continued, ignoring Tony's sarcastic dig. "Although, as much as Phil loves paperwork, he might be handling it on his own. I wouldn't be surprised if he had all the proper forms pre-filled out and stashed away somewhere on the Helicarrier, just in case."

"Here it is," Tony said happily. "No, wait. This was supposed to be Dr. Ross's. Son of a bitch," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I've got to get organized in here."

"How's she working out?"

"Who?" Tony asked without looking up from the desk drawer he'd begun to rifle through.

"Dr. Ross," Clint returned. "She getting anywhere?"

"Yeah, clear across the country."

"What do you mean?"

"She's gone," Tony answered, slamming the drawer shut and momentarily shutting his eyes, as if to visualize the last place he'd left that damn ID. "She actually just left."

"So, she couldn't do it? She couldn't find anything?"

"Oh, no, she found plenty," Tony answered, his eyes popping open as he raced back across the room. "Danvers's DNA was off the charts. Completely changed. She's practically her own species. How did she look?"

"Carol?"

"Yeah," Tony asked, having finally found what he needed.

"Normal," Clint answered. "She looked... human."

"Huh," Tony shrugged. "Guess we won't know more until we find her."

"If we find her."

"We will," Tony said with complete certainty as he handed Clint his ID. "Give it a second."

"Same as before?"

"I've made a few improvements," Tony said, but when Clint looked back at him suspiciously, he laughed. "Nothing drastic and I'm still sworn to only use them for good."

Clint held his card out before him and waited. It took a minute, but finally the card registered his fingerprints and began to fill with all the pertinent information.

"That it?" Clint asked as he gave the card one last look before slipping it into his pocket.

"That's it," Tony confirmed, clapping his hands together and watching as Clint slid down off of his perch and made to leave. "Unless you want me to activate that one-way camera. For fun. And science."

"No," Clint laughed, shaking his head as he did so. "I think it works just fine the way it is."

Tony watched him go, watched him until he got back on the elevator even, before turning back to his workstation.

"Yes, it does," he muttered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fixed a mistake. Thank you, Alpha Flyer!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am trying to finish this before I leave on vacation next Saturday. I made huge progress this week and so I'm posting another chapter. Enjoy!

x.

Bruce seemed to be in a particularly sour mood for the rest of the day, but Natasha couldn't be bothered by it. She knew she should just focus on the work they were doing, but with each passing image she grew more and more agitated until ultimately she called it quits.

He didn't even object, Bruce simply shut down the program and left the lab, leaving Natasha behind.

She knew what she had to do.

Natasha would have no peace of mind until she confronted Clint directly about his attitude and the changes she sensed in him. The idea that he'd undergone experiment after experiment, with no idea of what or why it had been done was making her nervous in ways she had not experienced in a long time. It was too close to her own ordeal in the Red Rooms. Too similar in sound and too similar in the casual way he was cutting her out of his life now.

She never expected him to come back to her with open arms, but she always expected him to fight.

Clint had changed, pure and simple, and Steve had unwittingly given her an idea of how she could at least expel one of her fears regarding those changes.

"Hey," she called out as she entered the gym, not surprised to find him alone.

"I was just finishing up," he said as he got to his feet. "It's all yours."

"I'm not here to work out," she said, stopping in front of him and giving him a hard, scrutinizing look.

"I've told you --"

"Shut up," she cut in, not wanting to waste time. "You're moving on. I'm moving on. I'm a big girl. I'll try not to cry myself to sleep at night."

"Okay," Clint said, crossing his own arms and looking puzzled. "So what's this about?"

"The codeword," she said without inflection. When all Clint did was blink back at her in confusion, Natasha began to doubt. Not that he hadn't been affected in some way by his experience, but that she'd been wrong about what it really was affecting him. Still... "Do you remember it?" she pushed.

"You're serious?"

"Am I ever not?" she fired back at him.

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands out wide as he gave her a shrug. "You want me to prove I'm not some kind of brainwashed drone, I will."

"Just say it so we can be done."

"It's Winston," he said but Natasha didn't budge. "You know, like the main guy from 1984. Not the guy in Ghostbusters." When she still appeared unmoved, Clint sighed and shook his head. "The whole point of a codeword is to just say the word and that's that. It's kind of meaningless if you keep standing there expecting me to explain it in detail."

"Fine," she said, relaxing her posture as she rolled her eyes. 

"Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done," Natasha answered, stepping aside and waving him past.

"Good because --"

As soon as Clint had gotten a few steps past her on his way out the door, Natasha struck. With a high kick to the back of his head, she sent him reeling forward several feet. Clint swung back around but didn't engage.

"Who are you?" Natasha shouted at him.

"Have you lost your mind?" Clint fired back at her.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head and bracing herself. "We'll do it the hard way."

"Natasha," Clint began warningly, but she didn't give him a chance to say more.

In a split second she was at him. Natasha rushed forward but Clint caught her above the elbows, holding her at arm's length. To retaliate, she brought her right heel down hard on top of his left foot before kicking at him with her free leg. But it was a move he expected, and easily rolled away from, releasing her with a shove that knocked her to the floor.

She didn't stay there long.

Natasha charged in again, feigning a tackle as she ducked under his arms and got behind him. Capitalizing on her advantage, Natasha threw her arm around his neck and wrenched him backwards, but again she was disappointed. While sparring they had always been evenly matched; not any more.

Clint was stronger now.

He reached up and ripped free of her hold, turning on the spot and pushing her hard in the stomach. Natasha fell back again, but this time she didn't go down.

"Who are you?" she yelled.

"You're sick, Natasha," he returned, his eyes trained on her eyes as she slowly began to circle around him. 

"What the hell is going on?" Steve called out from the doorway. 

The two of them had been so intent on one another, they hadn't noticed he'd entered the room; drawn in, no doubt, by the sounds of their fight.

"I don't know," Clint started to say but as soon as he'd turned his attention on Steve, Natasha sped in again for an attack.

This time, when she hit him square in the chest, Clint hit the floor but it went no further. Steve stepped in quickly, getting between the two of them and pulling Natasha away as he simultaneously asked JARVIS to send for help.

"Calm down, Tasha," Steve said as he blocked her path without actually restraining her, but she kept shifting her stance to try and see around him. "Calm down."

"That's not Clint," Natasha said as she took a step backwards and pointed across the room. "That's not him. It's not."

"We'll sort this out," Steve said evenly.

"Who the hell does she think I am?" Clint asked from across the room, still on floor and rubbing the spot on the chest where Natasha had got him in her last charge.

Steve didn't answer, just turned and glared at Clint who took the hint and kept his mouth shut.

"What's happening?" Bobbi asked from the doorway, having just arrived with Phil in tow.

"Tell them," Natasha said suddenly, moving too quick for Steve and heading for Phil. "Tell them about the codeword."

"She's not thinking straight," Clint insisted as Bobbi offered him a hand up and Steve moved to stand between the now two distinct groups.

"Natasha, what are you talking about?" Phil asked.

"Our codeword," Natasha said, staring hard at Phil now in the same way she had once stared at Clint. "Just the three of us. For exactly this kind of situation."

"I remember," Phil said with a nod. "I know, Natasha. It's Winston. Did Clint get it wrong?"

Natasha's entire face went blank. She had been visibly upset, agitated even, a state no one in the room was used to seeing her in, but it simple slid away. She blinked and she was the Black Widow; a stoic mask back in place.

"Tony, help me out here," Steve said, seeing him the doorway. "Come on, Tasha," he urged, taking her firmly by the arm and moving her towards the door. "Let's go talk this through somewhere else."

Natasha let Steve lead her away with Tony in tow, but her eyes stayed on Phil until he was completely out of her line of vision.

"What's going on?" Bobbi asked Clint.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "She just snapped. She showed up and asked me for our codeword and then... I don't know."

"What codeword?" Bobbi asked, still a little confused.

"It's something we put in place a long time ago," Phil said with a shake of his head. "If ever any of us were compromised for an extended period of time, to be sure that we were still who we were when they left, we made up a code. It was meant to protect against brainwashing or the possibility of an imposter. Ours was Winston."

"Which I said," Clint said, still angry and indignant about not only being mistrusted but also thrown around quite a bit.

"Well, do you think..." Bobbi started to say, but then quickly shook her own head. "No, it's probably just a mistake. We've all been wound tight here lately. I'm sure she was just mistaken, it couldn't be..."

"Couldn't be what?" Phil asked.

"I was thinking it might be another trigger," Bobbi said, seemingly dismissing her own words as she said them. "It's not. I'm sure it's not but she has been working with Bruce to discover more of them."

"You think she might have been accidentally been triggered in the process?" Phil replied.

"It's possible, isn't it?"

"If that's the case, should she be here?" Clint questioned.

"No," Bobbi agreed. "No, she really shouldn't."

"Or, you know, maybe I should leave," Clint offered. "I can go back to the Helicarrier for a few nights."

"I'm not sure that's good enough," Bobbi sighed. "If she's really volatile, no offense, but it might not just be you that sets her off."

"None taken," Clint said with a small smile.

"Clint," Phil said, "why don't you head to your room and stay there for awhile. Agent Morse and I will go and try to convince Natasha to voluntarily come back with us for observation."

"Okay," Clint said, patting the two of them on the back as he left. "Good luck with that."

Bobbi gave him a grin and followed Phil to the elevators where JARVIS directed them up to the main conference room.

Natasha was sitting on a nearby chair, but looked ready to bolt as Tony and Steve both stood around her evidentially having had the same thoughts Bobbi had regarding her de-programming sessions.

"I'm not making this up," Natasha insisted. "I'm not imagining it. He was wrong. That's not him or that's not just him. He was wrong."

"We knew this could happen again," Steve said, firm but kind.

"Nothing happened."

"Except you tried to jump your ex-boyfriend," Tony returned.

"Phil," Natasha said as soon as she saw him enter the room. "Tell them. Tell them I'm right and that I'm not imagining this. This is real. He's not..."

"Natasha, I'm sorry but you're wrong," Phil said. "He had it right."

Natasha continued to stare at him until it completely sunk in. Slowly she lowered her eyes and put her head into her hands.

"Come on," Phil said, reaching towards her as he tipped his head towards the exit. "I'll go with you. It's going to be fine, Natasha. It really is. This is only a set-back."

"Wait," Tony interjected. "I don't know if we have to go that far. No one got hurt. No one got stabbed. Tasha, you can stay here. You should stay here."

"Tony," Steve said quietly, shaking his head in disagreement.

"They're right," Natasha said as she met his eyes with her own. "I shouldn't be here. I should be somewhere safe."

"How are we going to work this out if you keep running away from it?" Tony asked as Natasha headed for the exit, flanked by Bobbi and Phil.

"Don't," Steve interjected, moving to keep Tony from following the three agents out. "You're only making it harder. She can make this call. You don't have to agree with it."

"I thought you all elected me leader?" Tony asked sarcastically, but knew he couldn't win this one. He let out an angry huff of air, watching as the three of them got into the elevator. At the last moment he caught Natasha's gaze and held it, looking for any sign that she was okay.

As the doors shut, she gave him a nod.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you reviewers, commenters, kudo and favorite givers, and bookmarkers! Thank you, Tripp3235 for constantly reviewing and reviewing this thing. I realize that some of this doesn't make sense, maybe this chapter will clear a few things up... or not. Enjoy!

xi.

"It's strictly voluntary," Bobbi repeated with a sigh, regretting that she'd ever come back to the Tower. "It's not like we locked her up on the Raft. She's in her old room. She's free to come and go as she pleases. It's just an added safety measure."

"That we should have discussed," Tony returned as he snatched the carton of shrimp lo mien off of the table.

"We did discuss it," Steve repeated, setting down his fork and ready to go another round with Tony if he had to over this issue.

"No, we didn't," Tony fired back. "I wanted to discuss it and then you told Red it was her decision to make."

"It was her decision to make," Steve reiterated. "All you wanted to do was talk her out of it."

"As is my right as team leader."

"Tony," Bruce said, pushing his plate away and not feeling up to finishing his own dinner, "I'm not happy about this either, but we didn't put you in charge of our lives; just the team."

"This is a mistake," Tony said with a shake of his head.

"Then it's her mistake to make," Bruce said with a shrug, but the bitterness was growing in his voice. "If this is what Natasha needs to feel safe then who are we to judge?"

For a few minutes there was silence in the room. Tony had asked all of the Avengers to meet up for dinner to go over the issue but it hadn't been as easy of a talk as he'd hoped it would be. Clint and Thor had been exceptionally quiet on the matter, leaving Tony to fend for himself against Steve, Bobbi and Bruce.

"She's not going to get help there," Tony said, breaking in again because he still didn't feel heard.

"It's debatable whether or not she was getting help here," Bruce returned shortly.

"You tried," Steve said reassuringly.

"There has to be something we can do," Tony said, shaking his head. "Something more we can try. Clint? You know more about this than the rest of us. What do you say?"

"I know more about Natasha than the rest of you," Clint answered carefully. "I'm not really sure I know any more about what they'd done or how to undo it then anyone here. I probably know less. She'd always told me it was dangerous and I always thought... I don't think I understood it until now."

"I refuse to believe this is a lost cause," Tony said firmly. "That she is a lost cause. What is wrong with the rest of you? Besides, this has nothing to do with her mental roadblocks, or whatever the hell we're going to call them this week."

"Triggers," Bobbi said quietly.

"Yes. Those," Tony returned, gesturing thankfully towards her. "Nothing set her off. She's just pissed off because Barton is Barton and not some brainwashed doppelganger like she thought he was. This whole thing just got blown out of proportion."

"What?" Steve asked, looking first at Tony and then to Bruce for an explanation, but Bruce was also at a loss.

It took Tony a moment to school his expression, but everyone in the room recognized that he's let something slip that he should not have.

"So she was serious?" Clint asked. "She really thought I was what exactly? Brainwashed again? Literally not myself? What... Why? Why would she think that? Because I..."

He trailed off abruptly and crossed the room in a familiar show of anger.

Bobbi kept her eyes on Clint while the others continued to wait for Tony to further explain himself.

"I didn't believe her," Tony said, as if it was obvious. "I just... Listen, Natasha was worried and I thought the best way to alleviate her of those completely irrational and ill formed opinions was to do a little test."

"Test?" Bruce said at the same time as Clint, who had turned back around and stormed back to the table.

"What kind of test?" Bobbi asked.

"Nothing drastic," Tony said. "Listen, she wasn't happy with SHIELD being the only ones doing the verifying. Which is completely reasonable," he said, trying to win at least one of them over without much success. "So, as an additional check, I used your new ID to match your prints. Which the cards already do," he quickly added. "It was nothing. Really."

"Couldn't you have just asked me?" Clint returned.

"Well, if you weren't you..." Tony started to say, but Steve drowned him out.

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Steve asked.

"Because it took two minutes to do and they matched. There was nothing to tell."

"That's not the point," Bruce said, the frustration beginning to show. "You lied."

"No," Tony said, shaking his head. "I didn't lie. I just..."

"Didn't tell us the truth," Steve provided, shaking his head.

"There was nothing to tell," Tony continued to argue.

"There was much to tell," Thor insisted, having until this point watched the conversation with great interest. "You just did not deem us worthy of hearing it."

"No," Tony said again. "That's not... Why does no one understand that I was just trying to do the right thing here? Why can't anyone see that? I thought after I'd reassured Natasha, it would be done."

"But instead she decided to do her own test," Clint added, crossing his arms and looking sour.

"Didn't you think that it was odd?" Bobbi asked, trying to understand how it had happened.

"Didn't you think that maybe she was only asking because she had been triggered?" Bruce asked as well, tossing his glasses onto the table before scrubbing his face vigorously. "We've been doing those tests for the past few days. I asked all of you to help me look... just in case. We don't know how all these triggers work. Tony, this was exactly what I wanted you to look for and instead of coming to me you just did what you always do -- whatever you think is best."

"I was doing was what you all asked me to do," Tony fired back defensively. "I was trying to lead."

"No, Tony, you weren't," Steve said. "You can't do it all on your own. You have to trust us and..." Steve trailed off, unable to continue.

"It has to be reciprocal," Bruce said firmly. "You can't continue to push and push at the boundaries... You can't expect us to tell you everything and get nothing in return."

For a moment it looked as if Tony was about to object, but instead he just shut his mouth and dropped his head.

"I made a mistake," he said, quiet but firm after a few moments of silence.

It took a minute, but Clint finally reacted, realizing belatedly that Tony was looking at him.

"It's fine," he said, nodding and dipping his head in embarrassment. "Tony, it's fine just... just come to me next time, okay? You have doubts? Fine. You want me to give you my prints or a blood sample or whatever? Fine. Just ask me."

"Will you?"

"Tony," Steve sighed.

"It's a joke," Tony snapped. "It's..."

"Not funny," Bruce said firmly, getting to his feet and leaving without saying another word.

For a few long and awkward minutes no one in the room spoke.

"Listen," Tony began, unable to bear it any longer.

"Hey Boss," Darcy burst in, stopping abruptly and looking around the room, clearly sensing the tension. "Sorry if I'm interrupting," she began, "but there's kind of a thing happening that you need to handle. Or join. Or something... Can you just get back to the penthouse, like, now?"

"Me?" Tony asked with surprise.

"Yeah," Darcy confirmed as if it should be obvious.

"Everything okay?" Steve asked.

Darcy just kind of shrugged at him in a noncommittal fashion which evoked real worry from Tony.

"It's Pepper's mom," Darcy said in a low whisper that was meant for Tony's ears only, but unfortunately carried around the room.

Tony nodded and with only a quick glance back at what remained of the group, followed Darcy out the door.

Steve kept his eyes on the door they'd exited for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the remainder of the group.

"Did I miss something?" Clint asked, casting about the room for an explanation.

"Pepper's mom... her health is failing," Steve explained.

"I understood that she had recovered," Thor insisted.

"She had," Bobbi agreed. "Some. But then she broke her hip and well..."

Steve found himself staring at Clint who looked puzzled.

"Should we..." he started to say, but trailed off.

"Let's give them some time," Steve provided, getting to his feet and beginning to straighten up the mess from their dinner which was now officially over.

They all took their time, no one particularly eager to intrude on what was likely a private moment. Just as they'd finished Darcy and Jane arrived back in the room.

"Can we talk?" Jane said immediately to Thor, gesturing towards the door. He only nodded in agreement and followed her back out of the room again.

"Pepper's flying to California," Darcy provided without prompt. "Jane and I are going with for moral support. Tony's already got the jet ready so..."

"Now?" Bobbi asked surprised.

"Tony's going with her?" Clint asked.

"It sounds pretty bad," Darcy said, answering them both with a sad nod of her head.

"Is there anything we can do?" Steve asked.

"Well, you can not burn the place down while we're gone," she suggested with a wry grin. "But, no. Seriously. We've got this. Tony sounds like he's only going to stay a few days. He'll probably be back by the weekend. It's all covered. Don't worry."

Darcy continued to provide some to the details, before Steve suggested she go and get ready. Not long after that he left himself to say his goodbyes and give his own well wishes to Pepper in person.

Clint and Bobbi hung back.

"You're not going up?" she asked after a moment.

Clint took a deep breath before crossing his arms and leaning back against the table. He looked conflicted.

"I don't know," he finally returned

"I thought you and Pepper were close," she stated, moving to his side and fixing him with a sympathetic look, as if she guessed at his reasons.

"I'm not good at... What would I say?" he asked her with a shrug. "Probably something wrong. I'd just upset her more and... What would I say?"

"I don't know exactly," Bobbi offered. "I'm not great at these kinds of situations myself. I like things to be more direct. More tangible. I like problems I can solve."

"Weren't you in counter-intelligence?" Clint asked, joking with her.

"That's how problems get solved," she returned with a short laugh. "Real problems, at least," Bobbi continued on having grown serious. "Life problems are less... Life is messier. You want it to be a chess game, but it's not. You can't plan or prepare for it."

"It just kind of happens, huh?"

Bobbi turned and found Clint looking at her intently. Appraising her and her words. Waiting for her response with baited breath.

"Yeah," she agreed, giving him a warm smile.


	12. Chapter 12

xii.

The next few days in the Tower were extremely quiet.

Steve picked up where Tony left off, attending meetings and briefings with Director Fury and Agent Coulson. Thor had ended up accompanying Tony and company to Los Angeles in order to spend more time with Jane. Bobbi and Jasper shuttled back and forth from the Helicarrier in an endless rush of official business. Maria had basically taken over the conference room, prepping for her still undefined role as the head of operations. While all that was going on, Bruce fell back into his habit of leaving early and spending the day with Natasha who was still in confinement, with the evident hope of convincing her that all was going to be well. 

Which left Clint practically on his own.

He tried to be productive, but no one was making it easy. Well, no one except Bobbi.

Bruce was avoiding him. He hadn't come out and blamed Clint for what had happened with Natasha, but given his attitude he didn't have to say it. Steve also seemed off, almost angry, but didn't shy away from Clint's company in any way. Maria and Jasper were unchanged, just too busy to notice that the dynamics had changed. Or else they were too oblivious to notice. 

Bobbi was the only one who seemed willing to spend any time with him. Not only willing, she actually seemed to want to spend time with him.

It was what he needed.

"Barton," Maria called out as she entered the common living room. It was late in the evening and he'd begun to think that it was going to be another night with just him and Bobbi, but he'd been wrong. Steve was with her, just as he always was as of late, right on her heels as the two of them entered the room. "Help me out here," she said, handing him a tablet without waiting for a reply. "Four years back. That mission in Finland."

"What about it?" he asked skeptically, glancing down at the file and catching sight of Bobbi as she entered the room from the kitchen.

"Look at this," she said, looming over him and flipping through the screens from picture to picture. "Look at these. They remind you of anything?"

Bobbi slid down next to him without invitation and gave the photos a glance. Her reaction was one of surprise as Clint skimmed over the file.

"Where'd you get these?" Bobbi asked Maria.

"Digging around," she answered, arms still crossed as she waited on Clint to reply.

"I know it looks similar," he said shaking his head, "but it's really not. That guy was a hack. We took a look at him and shut him down, but in the end he was just like every other crackpot wannabe. Says so right here. He was just imitating what Tony had already done," he finished, handing the tablet back. "He wasn't even doing a good job of it. I'm pretty sure if SHIELD hadn't showed up, he'd have killed himself with that thing."

"This looks like that Sentry from the Danvers film," Maria insisted.

"It was only six feet tall and didn't even work," Clint returned. "It was a complete waste of time."

"That's what Agent Coulson said," Steve confirmed.

"Yes, well, I'm heading up operations now," Maria said firmly, as if dismissing her predecessor's opinion on the matter, "and this is all we have."

"It is a stretch," Bobbi opined.

"It's a bit more than a stretch," Clint agreed. "Besides, wasn't that thing with Danvers' alien? This guy," he said, reaching up and tapping the screen for emphasis, "is not an alien."

"Well, our only confirmation that this Sentry is alien is a second-hand account from a known liar," Maria continued to argue.

"Thor thinks he's being sincere," Steve added with a sigh as he took a seat in the nearest chair. It looked very much as if he and Maria had been having this argument for some time. Hours, if not days.

"And we're all a bit stupid about family," Maria said, relaxing her posture and sitting next to Steve on the arm of his chair. "Maybe he's right. Maybe he's wrong. All I'm suggesting is that we go and have a talk with this guy. Look at them side-by-side. They are so alike, you can't tell me that this guy didn't at least see one of these Senty things and base his own design off of it."

Maria handed the tablet over to Steve before looking back to Maria and Clint for some kind of acknowledgement.

"I don't know," Steve said with a shrug, handing the tablet back over to Clint.

"It really does look similar," Clint finally relented. "We just assumed..."

"If this guy," Bobbi began, looking to Maria to provide a name.

"Matias Berg."

"Right," Bobbi nodded. "If this Berg guy was basing his own suits off of Tony's, wouldn't they look more like the Mark... whatever number Tony was on back then?"

"You'd think that," Maria said with a nod.

"So what exactly do you want to do about this?" Clint asked, done looking through the file and handing it back to Maria.

"I just want to have a chat with him. Feel him out," Maria said.

"You've already got a plan," Steve said, turning to her not with surprise but amusement.

"Not a full plan," Maria admitted, "but, yes. I thought that tomorrow the four of us could take a little trip."

"Just us?" Clint asked.

"If it's nothing, it's nothing," Maria returned. "If it's not, we can handle him." Clint fixed her with a look. "Okay, you three can handle him," she corrected with an icy calmness. "You handled him alone last time. He's not a major threat."

"Shouldn't we run this by Tony?" Bobbi asked, her gaze shifting from Maria to Steve. "We did elect him leader."

"It's just a chat," Maria reiterated.

Steve looked momentarily conflicted. It was clear that Bobbi and Clint were waiting for his reaction, waiting to see what he wanted to do and were willing to follow his lead.

"How long will this take?" he asked.

"Do we even know where he's at?" Clint added.

"I tracked him down to a lab near Winnipeg. We could be there and back before lunch tomorrow depending on how much this guy cooperates."

"Wait, tomorrow?" Steve asked. "Tomorrow is Saturday."

"Oh," Maria said, looking genuinely troubled.

"Something wrong?" Bobbi asked, her eyes dancing between the two of them before looking at Clint for some kind of explanation.

"No," Steve said, shaking his head but sounding as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. "No, nothing's wrong. We can talk later..." he said, nodding at Maria. "This is important."

"So... we're going?" Clint asked.

"Just to talk," Maria confirmed. "If it's nothing, it's nothing," she repeated. "And if it's something, we're being proactive."

"Okay," Clint said, as Bobbi nodded along in agreement, but there was a definite shift in the room.

"I'm just going to go and finish up dinner," Bobbi said, getting to her feet. "When do we want to leave tomorrow? Oh-seven hundred?"

Steve nodded but continued to look pensive.

Bobbi got up and left, pausing in the doorway to beckon Clint to follow along.

Once the two of them were gone, leaving Maria and Steve alone, the two of them exchanged a quick glance and left the room and went straight for the elevator.

"I'm so sorry," Maria said as soon as they were alone together in the elevator. "I didn't forget about us. I just lost track of what day it was."

"It's not your fault," Steve said, looking down at the floor as Maria contented herself with looking up at the ceiling. Anywhere but at one another. "It's kind of been a hectic week. But this is important. It has to be done."

The elevator stopped on Maria's floor but neither of them moved.

"The timing..." Maria said quietly.

"It's pretty bad," Steve agreed with a dry laugh.

"Can I get a rain check?" she asked, smiling a little as she finally looked his way, but the smile quickly melted from her features.

He looked struck.

"Steve? Are you..."

"I'm fine," he lied, unable to look at her. It was too similar. Too familiar. Too much like the last time; the last time being seventy years ago. Maria didn't know that, she couldn't have known, but it stung. It stung and it made him hesitate. Maybe it was too soon. "I just... I should probably go over the mission. Just to be safe. We've got an early roll out."

"Yeah," she agreed, trying to recover but unsure of what she was recovering from. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," he said, watching as she exited the elevator and walked down the hall towards her room.

Maria didn't say anything in return and, although he hadn't thought it possible, Steve felt worse than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fixed another mistake (I'm full of errors!)... thanks, Alpha Flyer!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to post twice a day and hopefully get this fully posted by Friday (or on Friday)... is everyone ready? I am. I am so ready.

xiii.

"So they just left?"

"It seems that way," Phil answered, casting about the room as if looking for some kind of evidence to contradict his own statement.

"I do not understand," Thor said with a shake of his head.

"They left?" Tony repeated, angrier than before. Thor and Tony had come back to New York earlier than expected, only to find the Tower completely abandoned with no explanation given. Naturally, he'd called SHIELD, and soon after Phil and Jasper had arrived.

"Where have they gone?" Thor asked.

"Was there some kind of emergency?" Tony asked, still looking for an excuse.

"No," Phil said shortly.

"But they did file a flight plan," Jasper added sheepishly. "Well, Morse filed a flight plan."

"And Barton gave me a call last night," Phil admitted with a reluctant sigh. 

"Nothing from Steve?" Tony pressed, sounding disappointed.

Phil shook his head.

"This is probably nothing," Jasper said, trying to smooth things over.

"Sometimes Agent Hill can be... overzealous," Phil tried.

Tony nodded grimly as he began to pace around the room.

"Let's go," he said abruptly.

"Pardon?" Phil replied.

"Let's go," Tony repeated, gesturing over his shoulder to the Quinjet Jasper and Phil and just arrived on. "If this unplanned field trip was a big enough deal for three Avengers, two more can't hurt. You know where they went, right?"

"Yes," Jasper said with an uneasy nod.

"Then let's go," Tony said. "I'll get the suit. The big guy here has his hammer."

"Indeed, I do," Thor confirmed.

"Then what's stopping us?" Tony finished.

Phil looked at Jasper who shrugged in return.

"It'll be fun," Tony intoned with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've just got one small detail to handle first."

*****

Not long after Tony and company left New York to head into Canada, Steve and company had arrived on scene.

"We're sure this is the place?" Clint asked, peering out the window of the Avengers' jet that Bobbi had flown. 

They were north of Winnipeg in a desolate spot of wilderness. The only thing there was a large building that looked more like a warehouse than a laboratory. There were no guards. No cars. No signs of life.

"Intel says it is," Maria answered, checking her weapon before lowering the walkway at the back of the jet.

"Let's go take a look," Steve offered, leading the way down.

Bobbi, Clint and Maria all followed Steve into the building which opened up into a large empty space, but also consisted of many rooms that spanned both the ground floor and the second floor. 

"All right," Steve said after a moment to take it in, "Morse, you and Agent Hill can start on this level. Barton and I will take up top."

Bobbi and Clint gave one another a quick glance, surprised, but didn't object. Maria's grimace grew tighter, but she didn't complain either, even though it was clear she thought that it would be her and Steve together. Maria just got out her flashlight and nodded at Bobbi to follow her as she led the way.

"Everything okay?" Clint asked as soon as the two women were out of sight.

"Fine," Steve said without any inflection as he headed off towards the staircase.

"All right then," Clint returned, as if he didn't believe him. The ride there had been tense. Something had clearly changed between Steve and Maria, even if Steve didn't want to admit to it.

Clint stopped once they got to the stairs.

To call them stairs was being nice. They looked as if they'd been cobbled together using leftover bits of railing and rusted cables and led up to an equally rickety catwalk. The structure underneath the rooms appeared secure enough, but the scaffolding leading there did not. Clint put his foot on the first step and the entire structure swayed.

He hesitated.

"Problem?"

"Think this thing is going to hold us both?" Clint asked, pausing and turning back to Steve with clear trepidation.

"Yes."

Clint shook his head in disbelief but continued up the stairs at a careful pace.

The first room they entered was large and filled with boxes and filing cabinets, making it almost maze-like. Once they checked it out and ensured that it was uninhabited they moved on. Each room was similar to the one before it; each room was stuffed full of documents and devoid of life. After they'd finished their initial walkthrough, close to an hour later, Steve notified Bobbi via communicator and found that the two women were finding much of the same downstairs.

"What do you think this is?" Clint asked, shuffling through a few of the folders that had been left out in the room they'd just finished clearing. 

"I'm not sure," Steve admitted. "It looks like some kind of research."

Clint nodded, looking down at the table. His whole face screwed up in concentration. The dim light making the print difficult for him to read.

"Huh," Steve said quietly.

"Find something?"

Steve held up the page he'd been reviewing as if in answer.

Embossed at the top of the paper was the SHIELD logo.

"Is this a SHIELD facility?" Clint asked.

Steve stared back at him inquisitively and returned, "Is it?"

"Not one that I know of," Clint answered quickly, "but it's not like I've been to them all."

"Maybe..."

"What?"

"I don't know," Steve shrugged, looking reluctant to voice his opinion but ultimately continuing on. "I was just thinking that this guy we were looking for, Berg, well... maybe he was working with SHIELD. Not at first, but we do know how SHIELD recruits. They didn't arrest him. Didn't lock him up."

"Wouldn't Hill know that?"

"She should," Steve admitted, looking back at the paper as if the answer would suddenly appear.

"So... what?" Clint asked hesitantly. "What do you think that means?"

"It may not mean anything," Steve said, still looking at the paper. "Seems a bit like a waste of time though."

"You think she dragged us out here on some kind of wild goose chase?"

"I'm not saying that."

"But you're saying..." Clint continued, lowering his voice and shuffling a few pages around the table, "you're considering the idea that she did."

"I'm... I'm willing to admit it's a possibility," Steve said carefully.

"That Maria is lying," Clint stated, more bold than before.

"Everyone lies," with his eyes still down. "SHIELD especially."

"But I thought..." Clint started, shaking it off at the serious look on Steve's face. "Do you think that's why she's been trying to do? Get on your good side? Throw you off track?"

"It's crossed my mind," Steve admitted, pained to do so. "Also..."

"What?"

"Well, those distress calls you and Phil sent," Steve continued, his tone no longer reluctant. He almost sounded relieved to have someone to voice his doubts to. "She was receiving them for over a month. And I know all about the jammer and the problems but the more I think about it... She always has it with her. Who could have gotten close enough to do that? Who could have gotten close enough to install that jammer?"

"No one."

"Exactly," Steve agreed. "Tony said the same, I just... The question is, what do we do about it?"

"Well," Clint said, pausing and becoming more serious than before, "we're here now. No one's around. There are three of us and one of her."

"Bobbi is with SHIELD."

"But she's an Avenger," Clint argued. "She'll do the right thing."

"You think so?" Steve asked skeptically.

"I do," Clint answered readily. "We came here to have a talk anyway. So what if we didn't find Berg. We could still carry on. Hill will do."

Steve stared at him for a moment before subtly nodding his head. Clint smiled back at him and walked first out the door, followed closely by Steve.

"One more thing," Steve said as the moved back across the catwalk towards the stairs. "I read up on that file last night. Your mission with Matias Berg?"

"What about it?" Clint asked without stopping.

"It never happened," Steve said, stopping abruptly.

Clint turned and stopped cold, his hands clenching hard at the railings as he faced down the barrel of the gun drawn on him.

"He doesn't exist," Steve continued, his voice still steady and even. "The file. The mission reports. All made-up. Agent Sitwell is very good with a computer. And Agent Hill is very good with plans. And this facility that you've never seen... you have. You scouted the location six years ago. Helped set up the security systems and protocols. Well, actually, you didn't. Clint Barton did," Steve finished. "Where is he?"

"Steve..."

"We all know. We've known since before Natasha confronted you," Steve continued. "Natasha Romanoff knows Clint Barton better than anyone alive. When she told us something was off, we believed her. Is that why you wanted her discredited first?"

"She knows me better than Phil?"

"We know," Steve repeated with unwavering conviction. 

"You know nothing," Clint snarled, leaping forward with surprising speed.

He knocked aside the gun, but Steve didn't drop it. He didn't have time to brace himself either, and Clint caught him with a hard kick to the chest. Steve staggered backwards and stumbled off his feet. Clint however didn't want to engage him. He was looking to escape. Instead of moving forward, he turned and ran back down the catwalk. He halted at the end where the chains and pulleys that kept the structure in place were lined against the wall and wrenched free the safety with immediate results. In an instant the entire catwalk began to careen towards the ground. Clint slid most of the way down the stairs before Steve had even began to give chase, before he'd even gotten fully to his feet, having instead gone crashing down with the structure.

"Stop!"

Clint paused for a few seconds at the sound of Maria's voice over the din. She'd been there, a few feet from the stairs as if waiting for him. Her own gun was drawn and leveled at his head, and to her credit she didn't flinch at the commotion or even search for Steve in the wreckage, but she was alone. Steve wasn't moving in the aftermath and Bobbi was nowhere in sight.

She was completely alone.

Clint paused, but it was only for a few seconds.

Rushing forward and catching her off guard with his sheer speed, Clint took hold of her gun and ripped it free, leaving deep scratches on her hands. He tossed the gun across the room as Maria latched onto his arm in an attempt to hold him in place, but he had no intention of staying. With his free arm, Clint swung around and boxed her ear, sending her scrambling to the ground and breaking her hold on his arm completely.

He started to run for the door but didn't get far.

There was a loud zap and before he knew it the world tipped and he was on the floor with a boot pressed firmly on his back.

"Stay there or I'll hit you again," Bobbi said as she applied additional pressure with her foot. He could feel the back of her batons at the base of his neck and knew she wasn't playing. "Hill, you okay?"

"Yeah," Maria said, getting up on her feet as Steve made it out unscathed and over to her. "I'm fine. He's quick. How are you?" she asked Steve as she shook her head in an effort to clear it.

"I should have never let him get away from me," Steve said instead of answering her. It had been a stupid mistake. 

"I'm fine," Maria repeated, but Steve didn't look convinced.

"I said stay," Bobbi said again, drawing their attention back to her as she pressed her batons harder into her captive. He'd obviously been thinking of using Maria and Steve as a distraction. He obviously hadn't been paying attention to who Bobbi Morse really was if he'd thought that would work.

"Let me," Steve said, stalking over to where they were and looking angrier than Bobbi had ever seen him look before.

Steve hauled him up to his feet and wrenched his arms behind his back. Bobbi produced a pair of restraints and snapped them over his wrists. Once they were in place, Steve grabbed him by the elbow and marched him towards the back of the warehouse.

"You are making a mistake."

"Shut up," Steve snapped.

"I can help you," he said, undeterred by Steve's outburst. Or by the fact that he was clearly at a disadvantage. "You want answers. I have answers. We can work out an arrangement. I'm sure we can."

"This way," Bobbi said, ushering them through a doorway. She moved ahead of them, opening up a hidden panel on the back wall. Once she'd entered in a combination, a door appeared as if by magic and slid open. "We're all set up."

He began to protest, once again, that they were wrong. That this was wrong. That they'd all made a mistake and it wasn't what it seemed.

No one listened.

Steve led him into a cell, turned him around and undid the handcuffs, before walking out again and locking him inside.

"They're here," Maria said, holding her hand up to her ear as if receiving a communication.

Steve and Bobbi acknowledged her nonverbally but nobody moved. A few minutes later the door slid open again and when the captive in the cell saw Phil Coulson pushed in ahead of the remainder of the Avengers, watched as he was silently led to a separate cell and locked inside, he knew.

It was over.


	14. Chapter 14

xiv.

"So," Tony said, standing far enough back so that he could see into both cells simultaneously, "who wants to go first?"

It was only Natasha, Steve, Thor and Bobbi left with Tony on the detention block with their captives. After they had been secured in their cells, everyone else had left the room to watch what enfolded via monitor. Jasper was recording the encounter and Maria had needed to patch up her hands. As for Bruce, he hadn't trusted the other guy not to rip the two fakes in half. As it was, being around them had been making his skin crawl. He'd assumed having Betty around had set him on edge, but that simply wasn't true. It wasn't until Natasha voiced her concerns that he put it all together.

The one who wasn't Clint stopped pacing long enough to give Tony a sneer, so Tony assumed it wouldn't be him making the confession. The other one, that wasn't Phil, looked tentatively around his cell before briefly meeting Tony's gaze and then turning away again.

"I will," Natasha said after a pause. 

Natasha and Bruce had been waiting at the Tower that morning, hidden away from all the action. After luring this Phil Coulson there and putting him at ease with the assumption that Tony was angry with Steve, they'd confronted him as a group about his true identify. He hadn't denied anything, but he hadn't been forthcoming either. 

It had all been a part of their plan. 

When Natasha had talked to Tony about her concerns regarding Clint, he had taken her seriously. So seriously in fact that Tony had done just like he said he'd done, he'd tested Clint's fingerprints. The only difference was that Tony had told Steve and the rest of them exactly what he'd been up to ahead of time. They'd all had a meeting and made plans ahead of time, plans that including getting Pepper and the support staff out of the way, just in case. 

Tony had also run a DNA scan. 

He had rigged the card to give the imposter a false positive. Unlike a real Avengers ID, that particular one would have come up with Clint Barton's information no matter who picked it up. It was designed that way. And while the fingerprints had matched, the DNA profile had been something else altogether.

Whatever they were, they weren't human.

Natasha walked in front of the two cells, back and forth for a few moments, before ultimately stopping before the one that held Phil.

"Who are you?"

From the other cell came some sound that could have been words but was foreign to everyone present.

"How did you know so much about them?" Natasha asked.

"We have our ways," the man asked quietly.

"They're not very good," Natasha said with a shrug.

"We'll make a note of that," the other one said, having moved to the front of his cell as he tried to draw Natasha's attention away.

"Do you want to know where you went wrong?" she asked.

"We were rushed," he answered, as if he already knew. "Some of the details..."

"Like the codeword?" Natasha asked without a trace of emotion.

The other one snapped again, his words almost a snarl, but the one who wasn't really Phil waved him off angrily.

"It's of no use now," he said to him. "They know."

"They know nothing."

"Um, well, we actually do know some things," Tony said stepping forward. "Like, you're not human. You're not from Asgard or any of the worlds our buddy back there recognizes," he continued to rattle off, waving at Thor as he did so. "Got a few samples off of the Chitauri after the battle," he continued easily, as if they were having a friendly chat. "Those don't match so... what is it? Kree? My money is on Kree. It seems to be the buzzword lately."

Whatever it was that was pretending to be Clint turned his head and spat on the ground before snarling out something in his own language.

"You insult me," he said and as he spoke his face began to droop and shift, turning steadily greener in hue and growing more reptilian. "Kree," he said again with venom in his voice. "You know nothing. Still, you know nothing."

"Enlighten us," Tony said.

"They are Skrulls," Thor provided, stepping closer to scrutinize them further. "Your race was thought extinct."

"You mean eradicated," the one who had been Clint said with a sneer.

"Yes," Thor agreed in a somber voice.

"We have lived on Earth for over fifty years," the one who had been Phil explained. "See how easy we blend in," he said, shifting his features effortlessly into a completely different man; one none of them knew. "We did this to survive. We had no choice. We are now a race of refugees. We meant no harm and have been peacefully living amongst you. We thought we were safe but we were wrong. The Kree arrived first, they have been planning for years, and they will come," he finished with a grimace, his face melting back into his original alien features. "They always come."

"They're your enemies?" Steve asked, his tone finally softening some.

The alien creature turned his eyes slowly towards Steve, but did not answer.

"You knew about the Sentry," Tony said flatly, as the wheels in his own head began to spin.

"We knew when you knew. It is their herald."

"And the Tesseract?" Tony asked, picking up speed.

"Called us here, many years back. We fixed on its signal. It was a sign that this was a world worth living on. It is what likely called them as well."

"And they got here first?" Steve asked.

"Yes."

"Why didn't they attack? Why wait?" Steve continued. "What held them back?"

"I do not know."

"Guess," Bobbi said sharply.

The two exchanged a glance through the bars between them.

"They arrived before we did," the one who had been Phil explained. "They set their Sentries. They manned their outpost and moved on. Likely they deemed Earth unworthy of their time. To easy. They may have no need for you now, but that is only a delay. They are greedy and will return."

"When exactly?" Tony asked.

"Soon," the first one assured him, sounding almost gleeful. "Very soon. The Chitauri proves it. The Chitauri are mindless beasts. Scavengers. They move only ahead or behind the horde. They hold no land. They meant to strip the Earth bare and leave nothing for the Kree. They failed."

"You have witnessed this before?" Thor asked.

"Countless times."

"So what do these Kree do?" Tony asked. "They have their Sentries and what, an outpost? Like a base? If they move on who runs that? How does that work?"

"The Kree are advanced. They would have left a few of their people behind but the outpost runs itself."

"Does it?" Tony asked with an edge in his voice.

"What about Captain Danvers?" Bobbi asked, wanting the truth.

"A Kree infiltrator," the alien answered. "Your own tests prove it. So do ours."

"She's not Kree," Steve insisted. "She's human."

"She was human," he snarled in return. "Now she is one of theirs."

"Is that why you kept her?" Tony asked. "All this time? Or was that a lie? Was anything you've told us true?"

"She lives," the cooperative one said, who even now that he wore his alien features, still sounded too much like Phil. "So do your men. A trade can be arranged. Us for them."

"The three of them for the two of you?" Steve asked, wanting to be clear.

"That does not sound fair," the first one, who had been Clint said harshly. "Two for two. Your choice."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate," Bobbi pointed out.

"And you do not know what you are up against," the first one returned. "We've said enough. Let us go and we'll return your men."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tony laughed. "Are we stupid now? We just unraveled your whole little cloak-and-dagger scheme here and you just think we're going to let you walk out? No. That's not how this works."

"Then keep us," he returned with an indifferent shrug. "Or kill us. It gets you nowhere. You don't know where they are and we will never tell."

"We don't?" Tony asked, walking over to the smart board and tapping the screen, pulling up a map. "Apparently, you don't know who I am."

On the map several spots lit up, one not very far from their current location.

"SHIELD got some real interesting readings off of the Sentry they found," Tony explained. "Readings Dr. Banner was able to hone in on and we found a few special spots around the globe that were emanating that same frequency. This is where the first one was," Tony said, tapping an island in the Pacific. "The one Captain Danvers encountered. No signal there, but we knew about it already. You just told us there were more and we know you weren't lying because here's one," he said, tapping the map again and again as he spoke, "and here's one and here's one. Oh, and here," he said, indicating the spot north of them, "here's three. Now, 'Why would they need three Sentries in one location?' you might be asking yourself. I asked myself that same question," Tony continued undeterred. "But you already gave me an answer. They have an outpost."

Tony stopped and waited, looked at each of them in turn before moving on.

"You know nothing."

"I know that I turned on the remote beacon on Barton's Avengers ID and this location popped up," Tony said, pointing to the place on the map where the outpost was and leaving out the part where he had to wait. Something had been blocking the signal for several days, likely because they were being kept underground, but they'd gotten lucky.

"Listen to me," the second one said desperately. "We were only trying to save our race. We only want what you want. We want to survive. We can work together and together we can stop them when they come. And the Kree will come. They will destroy us all. You must listen to me while there is still time. You must."

"Will they come wearing my friends' faces?" Tony asked bitterly.

"They'll come in peace," the first one said in a low voice that no longer sounded anything like Clint. "They'll come offering you things. Gifts and promises. Friendship. They'll tell you exactly what you want to hear."

"Do not believe them," the second one said as if already defeated.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the amazing feedback!

xv.

"We'll be in the air in two minutes," Bobbi said as she slid into the pilot's seat. Natasha was right beside her, already running through the checklist. They'd decided to fly out together, in one jet; the Quinjet. It would be a quick trip and they needed a few moments to go over the plan.

"The Kree," Thor said quietly, unable to shake them from his thoughts. Everything he knew of them spelt trouble. 

"We can't worry about them now," Steve said shaking his head.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "First the Skrulls, than the Kree. Let's handle the aliens that are here before we get to the ones that may not get here for another century or two."

"You believe them?" Bruce asked as he rifled through the bag he'd brought with him.

"It is within the realm of possibility," Thor confirmed. "The Kree are a deadly foe and cunning."

"Steve and Tony are right," Natasha called back to them, her eyes still on her work. "We can't worry about them yet. We need to get to that outpost."

Bruce locked eyes with Tony as if to ask again whether or not the Skrulls they'd imprisoned were to believed. If Clint and Phil were still possibly alive. Tony shrugged in return, relating Thor's same answer back to him without words.

It was possible.

Personally, Tony was trying not to get his hopes up. They had no concrete proof that Clint or Phil were alive. He wanted it to be true, but he was tired of being disappointed.

"Last chance to stay," he said instead, turning to Jasper and Maria. "Someone probably should babysit our alien guests."

"The cells are secure," Maria assured him. "Jasper set up a distress signal to trigger in twelve hours, in case we're not back. They won't starve to death in the meantime."

Standard procedure was to notify SHIELD immediately if hostiles were to be left unattended, but they'd all agreed that this was one time procedure could wait. If there were more of these Skrulls in SHIELD's ranks, and they had every reason to believe there were, their first priority had to be the outpost. They had to get there before any alarm could be raised. It had to be a sneak attack, even if that meant leaving Fury out of the loop for a few more hours.

"Buckle in," Bobbi called out, ready to go.

"Wait," Bruce said, making his way through what really was a crowded cargo, towards her. "Sorry, but first things first."

"What's this?" Bobbi asked as he held out a device that looked like a glucose monitor.

"Something Tony invented on the fly," he answered.

"Bruce helped," Tony interjected.

"I helped," Bruce agreed sheepishly. "We need some blood. Just to be sure. Everyone else has been tested but you and Maria," he explained. "It's not that we don't trust you but..."

"With shape shifting aliens?" Bobbi provided with a smile, holding out her index finger for him to gain a sample.

"Exactly," he confirmed, sticking her quickly and nodding at the results.

"Am I human?"

"Looks like it," he answered with a grin. "Maria?"

"Here," she said, mimicking Bobbi's motion. Bruce quickly changed the needle and administered the test.

"We're all good," Bruce confirmed.

"I demand a retest," Tony said with a smirk, just loud enough to be heard.

"Wouldn't be the first time something you made didn't work," Maria shot back at him as she buckled into her seat.

Steve chuckled under his breath as he took the spot next to hers, stopping only long enough to fasten his own seatbelt before turning and catching Maria's eye.

"It doesn't even hurt," she said, guessing correctly that he was thinking about the purple bruise that had spread across her cheekbone.

"It is a mark of a warrior," Thor opinioned with a broad grin on his face.

Both he and Tony refused to sit down and buckle in during take-off. They never did. Bobbi had long given up trying to make them.

"Well, I'd prefer the mark of an administrator," Maria said with a straight face.

"I confess," Thor replied, "I do not know what that would be."

"A paper cut," Jasper finished with a laugh.

Tony joined him, and even though Maria grinned back at them both, Steve was still having a hard time finding the situation amusing.

"What is a paper cut?" Thor asked, completely serious. "Are there weapons on Midgard made of paper?"

"I'll explain it later," Tony assured him.

"Guys," Natasha called back. "We're fifteen minutes out."

Bruce took the opportunity to undo his own buckle and move back towards the cockpit.

"How are you doing?" he asked quietly to Natasha.

"Good," she said, keeping her eyes on the panel.

Bobbi cast them both a quick glance, but made no comment. She just tried to pretend she wasn't there.

"Ready?" Bruce asked with complete sincerity.

"Yes," Natasha assured him, her eyes darting quickly to his to prove it. "Either way now, we'll know. We'll have a definite answer and... I'm ready for that. I need that."

Bruce nodded and gave her a grim grin before returning to his seat.

"Real quick," Tony said, calling for everyone's attention. "Steve, you want to break this down for us?"

"Okay," he said with a nod. "We'll know when we arrive how much resistance there will be. Once we break through the initial wave and get inside the outpost, we'll need to find Barton, Coulson and Danvers as soon as possible. Everything else is secondary. Bruce has testing kits for all of us to carry. Given what we know of the Skrulls can do, those kits are the only way to get a positive ID. Tony and Jasper, if you can, hack into their systems. Pull anything useful and relay it to the rest of us. We'll stay in groups of two so that we cover as much ground as possible, but no one goes anywhere alone. It's too easy for one of them to pretend to be one of us, so constant communication. Let's keep everyone in the know. Work carefully, but work fast."

"Do you have pairs already in mind?" Bruce asked.

Steve looked at Tony who shrugged in response, trusting Steve completely in this area.

"Yes," Steve admitted. "Bruce and Natasha, you go in together. Tony, you and Morse can pair off as well. That'll leave Thor with Hill, and Sitwell you're with me."

No one objected to the assignments, but Maria did give Steve an extra hard look in return. They had already decided earlier that, in order to lure out the imposter further, Steve wouldn't be working alongside Maria. She just hadn't expected that to be a permanent arrangement.

"Set?" Tony asked the group.

"Good," Bobbi said as everyone assured him they were, "because we're here."

Bobbi circled the Quinjet once around the outpost before landing on a spare strip of land next to what looked like an desolate bunker.

"Well," Tony said as he stepped off the ramp into the unusually cold day, "no giant robots. It's a good start."

"Let's go," Steve urged, seeing everyone was ready and sensing that the longer they lingered the more advantage they'd lose.

They all made it inside without incident, but it still looked exactly as it had on the outside. It looked exactly like a desolate, rundown bunker.

Tony had already switched filters on his internal screen and began scanning the room.

"It's underground," Jasper said, beating him to it by a fraction of a second. Jasper had his own device, similar to a tablet, that he'd been scanning the room with as soon as he'd entered it. "Entry is this way," he said, moving quickly towards the back wall.

He quickly found and opened the panel that should have allowed them entry but had to stop.

"That's not English," Jasper said as he stared at the screen which appeared to be a jumble of lines and symbols.

"Wait, I think I can decode it," Tony said, stepping forward and staring at the screen.

"All computers speak binary," Jasper suggested. "Alien computers must. Right?"

"You'd think so," Tony said, but he was having little luck interfacing the system.

"Can you locate the entrance?" Thor asked.

"Yeah," Jasper said.

"I can see it," Tony said, gesturing towards the wall. "It's right there."

"Here?" Thor asked, pointing to the spot Tony had indicated.

"Yeah," Tony said, slightly exasperated. "Give me a few minutes and --"

Thor didn't need a few minutes.

As soon as Tony had confirmed where the entrance was, out came Mjolnir and down came the wall.

"Sure," Tony said. "That's one way."

Thor led them down the stairs and into a much larger and more sterile space. It was big enough to be a hanger, and there even appeared to be some kind of opening in the ceiling, but there were no vehicles of any sort in sight. At the far end were a bay of windows and two sets of double doors.

"If this is Kree and they are planning to invade," Steve said as they crossed the area, "this wouldn't be a bad staging location."

"Looks like we're splitting up," Tony said, peaking into the first set of doors and finding it cut off from the others. "Good luck," he said to Steve as he pushed the door open for Bobbi, Bruce and Natasha.

"You, too," Steve said with a nod. "Keep those radios on."

"They're not radios," Tony sighed. "And mine is always on."

Steve gave him a nod and fell in behind his group, walking into what looked like an infirmary.

Jasper was already scanning the area as Maria and Thor were taking in the surroundings.

"I've got nothing. No signs of life or movement," Jasper said, shaking his head.

"Place is cleaned out," Maria offered. "Cabinets are empty."

She left unsaid that they might have been wrong. That the whole place might be empty.

Maria didn't have to say it, they were all thinking it.

"Let's keep going," Steve said, pushing through the next door and realizing his initial mistake. The first room hadn't been an infirmary, it had been an initial in-processing center. The room they were now in was clearly storage and decontamination.

On one side of the room was a row of showers walled off in a glass enclosure. There were several monitors that could have been for data entry or analysis. Nothing was operational and the lights throughout were dim, so it was difficult to tell. There were also rows of containment suits. Beside those were stacks of metallic boxes.

"Hold up," Maria said before they moved on, still staring at the boxes. "These are labeled."

Thor moved quickly to her side, lifting a few of the boxes and transferring them to the nearest table.

"Barton," Jasper said, pointing at one boxes and pulling it free. He ripped off the lid and looked inside.

"Clothes," Maria said surprised. "Jeans. Shirt. Hospital gown. Were these what he was wearing when..."

"I think so," Steve said. "And look," he said, having searched the pockets and found the ID card Tony had traced to this location.

Maria ran her light over the rest of the boxes, no longer surprised to find she recognized several of the names. 

"There's Coulson," she sighed. "If they're not here now, they were once."


	16. Chapter 16

xvi.

The doors Tony had led his group through took them directly into what appeared to be a lounge. There were places to sit and eat and the machines, while foreign to everyone present, appeared to be some kind of dispensary. They quickly moved on to the next room and then the next. Each room they entered was emptier and somehow eerier than the one they'd left.

Finally they reached a hallway and were forced to split up. 

Tony and Bobbi continued on alone through several more rooms before entering what seemed like sleeping quarters.

"We need a map," Bobbi sighed, picking up her pace as she passed bunk after bunk of empty and unmade beds. "This is going to take forever."

"You're right," Tony sighed. "There has to be a hub or some kind of epicenter. A control room or something, somewhere in this place. Hold on," he said, stopping outside the door and opening up a panel similar to the one he and Jasper had encountered at the entrance to the outpost.

After a few attempts Tony got something.

"Hey guys," he said over the comm. "Think I got us a map. I'm sending copies."

"Got it," Maria confirmed over the line.

"Copy," Natasha said.

"Thanks, Tony," Jasper said.

"Okay," he said, turning towards Bobbi. "We're here."

"This looks like what we're after," she said, pointing at a room not too far from their current position.

"Let's go there then."

They were halfway to what they hoped was the control center for the outpost when they finally ran across resistance. As they'd rounded a corner they were surprised to find two men in full tactical gear behind a barricade they'd erected in the middle of the hall.

The men immediately fired on them, but Tony easily outmatched them in that department.

After they were down and Tony relayed to the team what had happened, to put everyone else on guard. While he did that, Bobbi had stepped closer for a better view.

"Take a look," Bobbi said, calling him over to where she stood over one of the men.

Except it wasn't a man.

"What in the hell..." Tony muttered, leaning down over the unmasked woman.

Her head had been completely shaved and her left eye looked as if it had never formed. Skin completely and smoothly covered over where her eye should have been.

"Check this out," Bobbi said, having just unmasked the other woman.

Tony looked from one to the other a few times before catching Bobbi's eyes again.

"Are they twins?"

Bobbi didn't answer, just took out the kit Bruce had given and quickly ran through the procedure before showing him the results.

"They're human," he muttered, looking from one to the other again. The second woman had no physical deformities that he could see. However, both of them were wearing a smooth metallic collar on the back of their necks.

"Strange," Bobbi said as she got back to her feet. "I think... Look at them. Don't they look familiar?"

"No," Tony said shaking his head, and before Bobbi could argue further two more troops rounded the corner, ready to attack.

The first couple were as easy to take down with the suit as the previous two had been, but they were just the beginning of the initial wave.

"Now we've got a party," Tony told the group over the comms.

"Do you need back-up?" Steve asked, his group of four having just split.

"We've got this," Bobbi assured him.

"Yeah, I'm just giving you a heads-up," Tony said, echoing her sentiment. "This place isn't as dead as it looks."

"Let us know if your situation changes," Natasha added, knowing that she and Bruce were closer than anyone else and could provide assistance the fastest.

"Copy that," Bobbi said, before firing and taking another troop down.

*****

While Tony and Bobbi continued to engage troops nearby, Bruce and Natasha had yet to run across anything of significance. Room after room appeared to be nothing more than storage. Natasha was relieved to hear about the trouble Tony and Bobbi had encountered. She was beginning to think the entire place was deserted.

"I never asked," Bruce said as they entered a new section of the outpost.

"About what?"

"The codeword," he replied as they quickly ran through the contents of the room. "They seemed pretty convinced they were right about it."

"They were."

Bruce stopped and looked surprised.

"It was a joke," Natasha explained. "They were right about the codeword, but it was never a code. It was a joke," she sighed as she tried to explain. "It was our sixth or seventh mission together and we'd really just started to get along. To hit our stride as a team. Clint didn't have a lot to do and so, as usual, he read. This time he'd picked up 1984 and he wouldn't shut up about it," Natasha continued. "When we weren't going over plans he was talking about that damn book. It was all 'Big Brother this' and 'double-speak' that. It was... It was a long mission," she finished with a warm smile. "Afterwards Phil had joked that we'd always know the real Clint from any fakes because of how much he loved Big Brother. That he was Winston."

"Ah," Bruce said with a smile.

"But... it was just a joke," Natasha said, growing pensive. "It wasn't even a very good one. It wasn't one of those things we sat and reminisced about. It was years ago."

"So how did they know?"

"I don't know," Natasha answered, allowing herself to look her concern for once. "Do you think that's something they can do? Can they steal memories as well as faces?"

"No," Bruce said with a dismissive shake of his head. "No, if they could do that, they'd have already taken over. They'd have known the context of your codeword. There has to be some other way they found that information out."

Natasha fixed him with a hard stare and Bruce immediately regretted his words.

"Natasha..."

"You're not saying anything I haven't already thought," she assured him.

She knew they had likely been tortured. That they might still be inside this outpost somewhere being tortured. Natasha had mentally prepared herself for it and for the condition they might find them in. The level of detail they'd gotten from them was startling, even if it had been incomplete, but then again they'd had Phil for a year now and Clint for over four months.

There was no telling what had actually happened to either of them.

"This door is locked," Bruce said trying to turn the conversation, as he motioned to the door he'd come across. It looked heavier than the others and had a keypad in place beside it.

"Stark," Natasha said over the comm. "You find that control room yet?"

"Yeah," Bobbi answered for him. "It's um...

"Some of these things are not like the others," Tony said in a sing-song voice which sounded oddly hollow.

"What's going on?" Steve asked. He knew something had to be wrong by the tone of Tony's voice.

"Nothing," Tony said shortly. "We're working on getting some of these systems online."

"They've got cameras," Bobbi said over the comm. "Wave your hand or something."

Natasha and Bruce looked at one another, almost amused, before he shrugged and raised one arm, waving it around as directed.

"Got you," Bobbi said as the lights came on overhead.

"I can't override the locks," Tony was telling them, "but I think I found the master code. Transmitting that to you all now."

"Thanks," Maria answered.

"Good," said Steve. "There's a locked hallway we need to give another try."

"Copy," Natasha said, pulling out her communicator and typing in the code she'd been given into the keypad.

The door slid open with a hiss and they both felt the temperature drop as they entered what appeared to be a massive walk-in freezer.

"What do you think?" Bruce asked as they stopped in the middle of the room. "Food storage?"

"I hope so," Natasha said quietly as she eyed the wall to wall cabinets that lined the room.

"Guess we're going to have to look," Bruce sighed, thinking exactly what she was thinking.

They'd found the morgue.

When Natasha didn't move, Bruce touched her shoulder.

"I can do it," he assured her.

"No," she said, shaking her head and walking with new determination towards the nearest cabinet.

Without stopping, she wrenched the door open but her relief gave way to disgust. It wasn't Clint or Phil or anyone she knew, but it was a woman, and she was missing her legs.

She was tall and her head was completely shaved. There wasn't a single mark on her body that would indicate how she might have died and she appeared fairly young, possibly mid-twenties. And her legs... they just weren't there.

"It's a possible birth defect," Bruce muttered, shaking his head and turning to the next cabinet. "Or not," he said after he'd opened it.

It was the same woman.

This version, however, was missing her nose, ears, and mouth, as well as her left arm and leg.

Natasha stared for a second before quickly going through the room. She'd open a cabinet and pause for a split second before going on to the next.

They were all variations of the same.


	17. Chapter 17

xvii.

Maria had been listening to Tony and Bruce chatter back and forth about their finds over the comm. If they were right, all of the day-to-day operations inside the outpost was accomplished by clones. The control room had actually contained Skrulls, but Tony had simply said they were dead without offering up any additional elaboration.

If there was one thing Maria had learned it was that if Tony Stark was refusing to elaborate, bad things have occurred.

The code he'd sent had at least been useful and had given them access to a series of rooms that had higher ceilings than any they'd entered before. The rooms were equipped with a row of chairs, not dissimilar to what you might find in a dentist's office, and had floor to ceiling screens along with various contraptions near each chair that looked as if they were used to restrain an individual.

The first two rooms they'd discovered like this had been empty.

When they opened the door to the third room everything was different. The room was brightly lit and full of strange sounds. Loud sounds. The screens were displaying odd images and in the center chair there was a man strapped down, his face obscured by all the apparatus' holding him in place. Three spots away from the first man towards the back of the room was a second man, also strapped down to a chair. Both men were apparently unconscious.

They also were not the room's only occupants.

Along with them were two women, the first two people Maria and Thor had come across inside the outpost. They were tall, with blond hair that had been pinned back tightly and they were dressed in matching white uniforms, complete with surgical masks obscuring the lower half of their faces.

They were completely identical, except for the fact that the one nearest to them both was missing an arm.

"Turn that off," Maria shouted over the noise as she drew her gun. "Get them out of those things and then get against the wall."

"Now," Thor concurred, Mjolnir drawn and ready for a fight.

The woman missing an arm, they were too similar to differentiate otherwise, stepped towards them. The other woman stayed completely still.

"Do it," Maria snapped.

The one-armed woman turned her eyes back to her partner and gave a short nod. On that cue the other woman moved slowly to a control panel in the center of the room and began entering in codes. After a few seconds the sound was cut, followed quickly by the images as the lights came on full in the room.

The woman at the controls stopped and looked back to her partner as if waiting for instructions. When she gave her another nod, the woman continued entering in commands.

That's when the screaming started.

Maria startled at the sound. It was more than unnerving, it was terrifying. And it was certainly Coulson and Barton. She just knew. Even though she'd never heard them scream before, ever, she knew.

"Release them now," Thor bellowed, moving towards the woman at the controls.

The other woman rushed Maria.

She'd let her guard down, was still distracted by the screams, but Maria still managed to get off two shots. Despite being struck the woman wasn't slowed in the slightest and was on Maria in an instant.

As the woman with one arm attacked Maria, the other leapt at Thor.

Even if she had surprised Thor, she was still no match for him. With one swing of his hammer the woman was out and falling against the far wall unconscious.

Maria was still grappling with the other woman, who had gotten her only hand around Maria's neck and was choking the life from her, when Thor wrenched them apart.

By that time Coulson had stopped screaming but had begun to thrash about. Barton continued on, same as before. It sounded like he was being murdered.

"Tell us what you have done to them," Thor demanding, holding the woman firmly and at arm's length. "Tell us now," he threatened.

Maria holstered her gun, giving herself a moment to catch her breath. She was going to have a fresh bruise on her neck to match the one on her face. With one hand she rubbed the spot where the woman had taken hold of her, and with the other she ripped free the surgical mask to get a better look at her face.

She wished she wouldn't have.

The woman had no mouth.

"What sorcery is this?" Thor asked softly, letting the woman go as he looked her over cautiously.

She backed away from them slowly at first, but as soon as she realized they weren't prepared to kill her outright, she rushed them again. 

Thor was prepared. They had no time to waste on this woman, who clearly would not stop and would not help. They had to find a way to free Coulson and Barton.

He did the only thing that could be done. Thor introduced her to Mjolnir, same as the woman before.

"Two down," Maria said into her comm link.

"Repeat that," Tony asked, and she knew why. Her voice was raw from the fight.

"Thor put two down," Maria said again, after clearing her throat. It hadn't improved the quality of her voice any, but it had made her a little easier to understand. "And we think we have Coulson and Barton."

"Where are you?" Natasha asked immediately.

"I can't see you on screen," Bobbi added; she and Tony were still in the control room.

Maria and Thor both took a quick look around them, but could see no cameras. Thor quickly crossed the room and took a step into the hallway.

"Got you," Bobbi said. "I'll direct Natasha and Bruce your way."

"If we're closer --" Steve started to say.

"No," Natasha interrupted. "We're going."

"Copy," Steve said, ending the argument before it started.

"What's that noise?" Tony asked. "Anyone else getting feedback?"

Maria and Thor exchanged glances before she hurried over to the control panel. The feedback Tony was hearing was Barton. He was still screaming and showing no signs of exhausting himself.

"Stark," Maria said, "I'm sending you video."

Holding up her Avengers ID, she turned on the camera and held it up to the panel.

"How do I turn this off?" she asked.

"Give me... Hold on," he said over the line. 

It wasn't really a long wait, it only felt like one.

"Hill," Tony said, her comm coming back to life. "I think I can remotely shut down that machine from here. Have you tested them?"

Maria realized she hadn't. She hadn't even approached them.

"Doing that now," she said, walking first to Coulson and hesitantly taking hold of his hand. As quick as she could she got the drop of blood needed for the test before moving on to Barton. "It's them. Or at least they're human," Maria said as soon as she was done.

Thor, unsure of what he should be doing, walked in and out of the room as they waited on Natasha and Bruce to arrive.

"Okay, I'm shutting it down."

"Copy," Maria said, waving Thor back inside, knowing she might need help.

The machines all whirled and hummed, louder than ever, before going silent.

As they went still, so did Coulson and Barton. 

Both men were quiet now; the only movement from either the rapid pulls of breath making their chests rise and fall.

Maria began to undo the elaborate contraption that was over Phil's head and shoulders, but as soon as she touched him, he flinched.

"Agent Coulson," Maria said in as loud of a voice as she could muster. "It's Agent Maria Hill. We're here to free you."

"Can he hear you?" Thor asked, his voice much softer than normal.

"I don't know," Maria admitted. "Let's... Help me."

Working together Thor and Maria undid the various latches and buckles before finally lifting the device free. Once free, Phil let out a gasp. He pulled himself up to his feet and pushed past the two of them as if they weren't even there, stumbling across the room and into the wall.

"Sir?" Maria asked.

Doubled over, Phil was still trying to regulate his breathing. His hands were balled up into tight fists. He looked thin and lost. It was him, Maria was sure of it, but he'd never looked less like himself than in that moment.

"Sir?" Maria repeated.

"Agent Hill?"

"Yes, sir."

Phil attempted to straighten his frame, but wasn't quite able. Still leaning into the wall, he squinted his eyes in her direction.

"Who else is with you?" Phil asked, beginning to sound normal again. More like business.

"It is I, Thor, son of Odin."

"Have a seat, sir," Maria urged, stepping closer and offering him assistance. "We still need to free Barton."

"Clint's here?" Phil asked, having reluctantly accepted Maria's help to the floor. "He's in the room?"

"Yes, sir," Maria answered, motioning for Thor to help her undo Barton's restraints.

"That's... That's new," Phil said, still sounding as if he hadn't yet caught his breath.

Releasing Barton was going to be harder than releasing Coulson. He had begun to move again, violently and was making noise, but nothing she could interpret. Maria didn't know the best way to free him. Ultimately she decided to leave his arms and legs shackled so that she could at least get his head clear. She hoped he'd calm down once he was no longer stuck inside the contraption.

"Relax, Barton," Maria said as they pulled the device free. "We're getting you out of here but you need to relax."

Finally Clint stopped resisting, opting instead to take huge gulps of air that didn't seem to calm him in the slightest.

"You are with friends," Thor said calmly, placing both his hands on Clint's shoulders.

"I can't see," Clint finally said very faintly, his eyes fluttering open and closed. "They took my eyes. They took..."

"It goes away," Phil called out to him, just loud enough to be heard. "Clint, it goes away. It's a side effect."

"Breathe," Maria intoned, beginning to worry. Without thinking she took hold of his hand with her own and gave it a squeeze.

"Hill," he said after a long pause.

She met his eyes and was glad to see they were clear and focused.

"Sir?" Clint said, and Maria looked over, surprised to find Phil up and about and on the other side of the chair clasping Clint's other hand.

"Yes?"

"Can we get the hell out of here now?"

Maria let go of his hand and began undoing the rest of the restraints.

"We still need to locate Captain Danvers," she said.

"Who?" Clint asked, sitting upright and shaking his head.

"Captain Carol Danvers," Maria repeated, hoping they hadn't been wrong. That the imposters hadn't lied about her as well.

"Carol," Clint repeated, nodding as he recognized the name.

"You haven't located her yet?" Phil asked with real concern.

"No, sir."

"She'll be on the cell block," Phil said, trying to sound confident as he stepped back, allowing Clint room to get on his feet.

Clint squeezed Phil's shoulder, leaning onto him for support and generally not wanting to think too much. Clint knew if he over thought this situation, he'd lose it. It was too good to be true. He hadn't seen Phil in months. Hadn't heard his voice in over a year. He'd given up thinking that anyone would be coming after them. Had almost resigned himself to this kind of half-life but now...

"Stark," Maria said into her comm, "we've got them. We're moving out. Coulson thinks they've got Danvers on a cell block."

"I think we're there," Steve answered. "We're going in."

"Hold up, Hill," Tony returned. "Did you press anything you shouldn't have down there?"

"No," Maria said, sounding affronted.

"Okay, well... I think we have a problem. How fast can you get out?"

"What kind of problem?" Maria asked.

"There's a countdown," Bobbi answered.

"What's going on?" Phil asked, feeling practically naked without a comm link of his own.

"That doesn't sound good," Maria said, motioning for everyone to start moving towards the door before repeating the information back to the group.

"Steve, hurry," Tony said. "We've got less than fifteen minutes."

"We've got her," he said after a pause, with everyone still listening in.

"Good," Tony said. "Pop the lock and get out. Morse and I are leaving. Everyone meet up at the jet."

"Copy," Jasper confirmed.

"Come on," Maria said, still trying to usher everyone out of the room and down the hall. "Rogers and Sitwell are picking up Danvers," she assured Phil and Clint. "Stark thinks this place is rigged to blow. We've got to get out of here and back on the jet. Now."

"About Carol," Phil started to say.

"Sir, it will have to wait," Maria said, shaking her head and picking up the pace. She took point as Thor followed in back.

"Agent Hill, this cannot wait," Phil said firmly, stopping in his tracks and standing firm. "We need to go back. Carol..."

"Sir, I have a job to do," Maria said, talking over his words.

"And I have a promise to keep," Phil returned. "I will not leave without her."

"Captain Rogers will bring her out."

"You don't understand," Phil said, shaking his head.

"Sir," Maria urged.

"Guys," Steve said over the comm, stopping the rest of her words short.

"Tell me something good," Tony answered.

"I may have underestimated the situation."


	18. Chapter 18

xviii.

Steve had tried not to think about how Maria had sounded the last time he'd heard her voice over the comm. He didn't respond or inquire after her, knowing she'd want it that way, and instead tried to focus on the mission at hand.

He'd been relieved to hear that Agent Coulson and Clint were both safe and well. He was less excited to hear about the countdown and probable destruction of the outpost before they could full explore it.

Still, they'd found her.

Steve and Jasper had made their way down a long hallway lined with glass cells and found her.

When they'd approached, she'd been standing up in the center of her room, almost as if she had been waiting for them.

"She looks kind of pissed," Jasper said as they stood before her cell.

Carol Danvers was tall and lean with blond hair trailing down her back. She was a little on the pale side, but four years of captivity hadn't seemed to have affected her health in any other discernible fashion.

And Steve thought Jasper was right; she looked angry.

"We've got her," Steve said into his comm link.

Moving closer to the door, he tried to convey the fact that he was there to let her out but she didn't move. Her expression became less angry and more curious. Steve opened the lock using the code Tony had relayed and stepped inside.

"Captain Danvers?" he asked.

She gave him a slight nod, her eyes darting from Steve to Jasper.

"And you are?" she asked, eyebrow raised as she gave him an appraising onceover. "Wait, let me guess. Captain America."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ma'am," she repeated with a small smile. "Wow. Someone did their homework."

"Captain Danvers," he said, shaking his head and passing off her demeanor as generational. That or the fact that she had been held prisoner for four years by aliens. If her attitude was a little odd, he figured she was allowed to act a little odd given the circumstances. "We need to move out," he continued. "We have a jet ready to take you out of here, so if you'd just come with me, please." 

She didn't move but her eyes softened.

Steve looked back at Jasper, unsure of what his next move should be. If he had to, Steve knew he would carry her out, but he didn't want it to come to that. He wanted her to come with them willingly. They were trying to rescue her after all. 

But they were in a hurry.

"Agent Coulson and Barton are already being led out," Steve tried, hoping that would sway her. "We have them safe."

"We?"

"SHIELD," Steve answered, knowing she wouldn't know about the Avengers and that she had previous dealings with SHIELD. It was something she'd recognize.

"You're with SHIELD?" she asked, taking half a step forward.

"Yes, ma'am," Steve assured her. "We can explain on the way. We need to go."

"Okay," she said, nodding her head. She still looked apprehensive, but less so than before.

Steve stepped out of the doorway and motioned for her to go ahead of him. Taking his cues from Steve, Jasper also stepped clear from his position still out in the hall.

Captain Danvers took a few halting steps forward and Steve was beginning to think he'd been wrong, that she was hurt or weaker than he'd assumed from her ordeal. Once she'd reached the doorway she stopped and steadied herself on Steve's arm, hunching over and taking a deep breath.

"Are you --" he started to ask, but stopped short at the pressure she was exerting on his arm.

In a split second Steve realized that a shift in power had occurred. He wasn't holding onto her, she was holding him in place.

Carol Danvers lifted her eyes to his as she reached over and took his gun. Steve reacted too late, moving to stop her as she had already succeeded. With one vicious shove, Steve felt himself falling, not just falling but practically flying, across the room and against the far side of the cell in a blinding flash of light.

"Hands up," she said, stepping through the doorway and aiming the gun at Jasper. "Interlock your fingers and put your hands on top of your head. Now."

Jasper's eyes flitted towards Steve, but he knew when to comply and when to fight. Following her orders, he watched in stunned disbelief as she eyed the control panel. With a grimace Danvers balled up her free hand and punched it. Instantly the device shorted out and the door slid shut, trapping Steve inside.

Steve, head still ringing, staggered to his feet and took in the scene.

It wasn't good.

"Guys," he said over the comm, certain Captain Danvers couldn't hear him given the absolute silence that had engulfed him as soon as the door had shut.

"Tell me something good," Tony answered.

"I may have underestimated the situation," Steve admitted, watching as Jasper had his gun taken from him and was marched back down the hallway, leaving him locked up.

"Care to elaborate?" Tony asked.

Steve tried to pry the door open, but found he couldn't get any grip.

"Steve?" Tony called out over the line.

"Danvers got the jump on me," Steve admitted with a sigh. "She took my gun and locked me in her cell."

There was the distinct sound of laughter, but it was quickly overridden by additional voices on the line.

"Where is she now?" Maria asked.

"Heading back the way we came," Steve answered. "She has Sitwell."

"We'll move to intercept," Maria confirmed. "Romanoff, where are you?"

"In the de-con room you first entered."

"Keep coming," Maria ordered. "We're almost to you. Coulson and Barton need to get out of here. Thor and I will trade off and then head back in to assist Rogers and Sitwell."

"I think we're closer," Steve heard Bobbi say.

"Yeah," Tony said, the laughter still in his voice despite the situation. "We'll spring Rogers and follow behind."

"We've got about fifteen minutes left," Bobbi urged.

"Everyone got that," Tony said over the line and then all communication momentarily ended. "Hurry."

"So," Steve said, looking around the room, "I'll just wait here then."

*****

"Tasha's here?"

Maria nodded briskly at Clint's question, still urging everyone forward. 

"She's okay then?" he asked, taking a few quick strides in order to walk by her side.

"Yes," Maria assured him. "We'll have plenty of time to rehash this on the jet."

It wasn't that she didn't want to give him answers, she just couldn't focus on that now. Clint seemed to understand because he dropped the subject. It was apparently enough to hear that she was okay. He understood that if she was out on a mission, she had to be okay.

Maria had forgotten Clint's last recollection of the situation. The last time he'd been with them, really with them, they'd all been looking for her. That he'd been more concerned for Natasha than he had been for himself.

He'd spent four months likely just as worried and left in the dark.

Maria briefly wondered how she could have ever thought that imposter had been Barton, but pushed the thought away. 

"Through here," she said, opening and door and picking up the pace.

Coulson and Barton were both struggling to keep up, weakened from confinement, but neither man complained.

They rushed through two more rooms before coming face-to-face with Romanoff and Banner.

"Get them back on the jet," Maria ordered, already turning to go. 

She had no time for pleasantries. In the back of her mind, she could feel the panic. They were on the clock. Time was running out and Stark and Morse hadn't reported back yet. They hadn't reached Steve and he was still locked up. She didn't want to think about it, but at the same time it was the only thought in her head.

"We'll cut off Danvers and Sitwell," Maria continued. "Get moving."

"Agent Hill," Phil cut in, taking her by the arm and halting her progress. "Wait a minute."

"We don't have a minute to spare," she said, pulling free.

"Then let me come with you," Phil urged.

"You can't, sir. You're in no shape for a fight."

"Maria," Phil said, still calm but his composure was clearly strained. "I know Carol. She won't intentionally hurt you, but she won't believe you either. She needs a familiar face. She needs to know this is real and not a lie. I need to be there."

"I'll go too," Clint offered.

"No, Barton," Phil ordered. "Go with Agent Romanoff and Dr. Banner back to the jet."

"Sir," he began to object but one hard look was all it took and Clint relented.

"We'll have it running and ready to go, sir," Natasha assured him, crossing quickly to him and holding out her extra firearm. "You may want this."

"Thank you, Agent," he said with a faint smile.

"Oh," Bruce offered, passing off a spare communicator. "And this."

"Doctor," Phil said with a nod before putting the device in place.

"Keep us informed," Natasha urged, already moving back the way she'd came. "We'll be waiting."

"I'm counting on it," Phil returned, hesitating as he and Clint locked eyes.

"Sir," Clint said, wanting to tell him to be safe or something equally ridiculous.

"We need to go," Maria said, already back in the hall they'd come from and her own voice becoming near frantic.

Phil nodded at Clint, understanding what hadn't been said, but Maria was right. They had to go. He turned and left, following Maria and Thor back into the outpost.

*****

"It's not funny, Tony," Steve said as soon as they'd gotten him free.

Not that it made a difference. No matter how many times Steve said it, Tony kept laughing.

"It's really not," Bobbi agreed, walking briskly ahead of the two men and rolling her eyes.

"Isn't this twice today?" Tony asked. "First fake-Barton and now this Danvers girl?"

"She's not a girl," Steve said with a shake of his head, picking up the pace. "She's... strong. She could have broken my arm."

"Do you need remedial superhero courses?" Tony asked, feigning seriousness.

"Tony, it's not a joke. She's not... she's not human."

"We knew that," Tony said, finally dropping it and becoming serious. 

"Yeah, but we didn't know what it meant," Steve returned. "And she's got Sitwell and..."

Steve trailed off, not wanting to add that she was heading towards Maria.

Carol Danvers just proved she was dangerous and determined to get out of this place.

"If you're that worried, I'll scout ahead," Tony said, taking the lead. "They couldn't have gotten far."

"We've got about ten minutes," Bobbi said, checking her watch and breaking into a run. "I'll tranq her if I have to, but we need to go."

Tony pulled ahead of the two of them and rounded a corner only to come to a full stop.

"I see them," he said as he scanned the room up ahead of them.

"Tony, wait," Steve called, but the other man had already taken off. "Damn it," he muttered, running past Bobbi to give chase.

He was too late, Tony had already rounded the corner and gotten too far ahead of them.

"Captain Danvers," Tony called out from behind the Iron Man mask. "I know you're having a hard time believing what's going on here, but trust me, we're friends. Well, we're friends of your friends. Either way, you want to talk? Great. But let's talk outside. This place is about to become a hole and I'd rather not be in it when it does. That okay with you?"

Steve slid to a stop, blocking Bobbi on instinct, and watched as Tony flew back into view. In a flash of blinding light he slammed into the wall and slunk down onto the floor.

"I tried to tell him," Steve sighed.


	19. Chapter 19

xix.

Bruce didn't know how they did it.

He trailed just behind Natasha and Clint up through the bay and out of the bunker towards the jet. The entire time the two of them didn't speak or touch one another. There were no greetings, no words exchanged, no plan to review. They walked with purpose in complete silence. Natasha took the lead, weapon out and ready to strike. Clint, barefoot and wearing what looked like institutional pajamas kept pace five feet behind her, constantly scanning the area for signs of something amiss.

They didn't even look at one another, they just acted and reacted as if no time had passed and this was any other day on the job.

Clearly they were on a mission.

Not a bit of it changed when they got onboard the jet.

Natasha sat in the pilot's seat and began running through the start-up procedures leaving the two men on their own.

"Where's the gear?" Clint asked.

"Back storage unit on your left," she answered without pause.

Clint opened the unit and stopped, but it was only for half a second. Bruce stood awkwardly in the middle of the jet, not sure who he should approach to offer help to first, and watched as Clint pulled himself into a spare set of tactical gear and boots. Without bothering to ask 'where' again, he continued to rifle through the other units until he found a few guns, which he immediately confiscated, and a spare comm link.

"Where's my gear?" he asked after another moment had passed.

Natasha froze mid-task.

"Clint," Bruce tried to explain.

"Never mind," he returned, shaking his head and realizing why his gear hadn't been brought.

They hadn't been sure he'd made it. He'd been dead for over four months now.

"This thing warmed up?" Clint asked.

"Yes."

"Good," he returned with a nod, checking the gun he had once more for good measure. "Let's go."

"Go?" Bruce asked, looking at him with confusion.

"Coulson said stay," Natasha said firmly. "We have our orders."

"I don't work for Coulson anymore," Clint said, obviously willing to fight this one out.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to him."

"I'm tired waiting," Clint said shortly, looking out the back of the jet towards the bunker they'd just left. "I'm tired of doing nothing. I need --"

"No," Natasha said, her tone every bit a warning. "They'll handle it. They'll bring everyone out. You need to be patient."

"I've spent months being patient," he said.

Bruce was surprised to hear the tremor in Clint's voice, but wasn't surprised to see him move. Clint got two steps down the ramp before Natasha caught up to him, taking him by the shoulder and without any effort, holding him in place with just her touch.

"I need to do this," he said quietly even as he leaned into her.

"You can't," she said firmly. "You're not ready. Not mentally. Not physically."

It hadn't dawned on Bruce until she said it, but Natasha was right. Clint had clearly lost weight and he looked exhausted. Willing, he was clearly willing to wade back in to the fight, but he certainly didn't look able.

"Tasha," Clint said, his voice softer still but he was refusing to turn her way.

"Don't," she said, matching his tone. "Don't do it. You don't have to. Let the team handle it."

Clint shifted his stance in order to look her in the eyes. 

Bruce took a step back, shifting his own attention away from the two of them as he sensed the intimacy of the moment building. 

Natasha's hand moved up, resting against Clint's neck and it was no surprise when he slid his arms around her waist.

Clint dropped his voice, and Bruce was thankful. He knew Clint was whispering something, speaking low and soft words meant just for Natasha. Bruce didn't want to intrude or interrupt and understood that some things can't wait and shouldn't. As Natasha grasped his face in her hands, pulling him closer, Bruce looked away. They needed privacy, unfortunately Bruce couldn't provide it.

For the moment, they were stuck with him.

Checking his watch and realizing the countdown was winding down, Bruce knew there was no time for this now.

"Sorry to um..." Bruce said, his back still to the two of them as he shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. "Natasha. Clint. We're kind of in a hurry here. Sorry."

Bruce waited another few seconds before turning around to face them. They were apart again, a few feet apart, and both of them were wearing their mission faces. They were no longer Clint and Natasha. They were Hawkeye and the Black Widow.

"Where are they?" Natasha asked no one in particular as she double-checked her own watch.

"Someone want to give us an update," Clint said over the comm.

They all stood and waited, casting glances at one another, but no reply came.

"Stay here," Natasha said, heading down the ramp.

"Where are you going?" Clint asked as both he and Bruce followed after her.

"To see what's keeping them," Natasha answered as if it should be obvious. "Get in the pilot's seat and be ready to go. Bruce, make him stay put if you have to. And if you can't, ask the other guy to lend a hand."

"Tasha," Clint called after her.

"I'll be right back," she yelled over her shoulder as she took off at a run towards the entrance.

Clint watched her go before turning his attention back to Bruce.

"Didn't she just stop me from doing that same thing?" he asked, one part disbelief, the other part admiration.

"She's kind of got her own way like that," Bruce shrugged with a fond grin of his own.

"Hell yeah she does."

*****

"We're going the wrong way."

Carol ignored him, moving faster. She still had him with his hands on his head, one of her own holding his wrists firmly in place as she pushed him forward.

"Captain Danvers," he said. "I am not lying to you. This is not the way out."

"I'm not looking for the exit," she said through gritted teeth. Of course she'd picked the chatty one to take along. Granted she hadn't had a lot of choices. It was either him or the Captain America wannabe. 

"If you'd just tell me what --"

"Shut up," she said, cutting him off as they entered a new room.

Carol had picked up the pace since they'd ran into Iron Man, and damn it if this wasn't absurd. She didn't know what kind of twisted test they were running now, but she'd had enough. It had been a full week since she'd seen either Bug or Ace and two days since anyone had stopped by her cell. Carol wanted to believe they were still alive, still in here somewhere, but empty room after empty room wasn't filling her with a great deal of confidence.

"This place is deserted," the man tried again. "Everything is off and everyone is gone."

"We're not," Carol said as she dragged him inside somewhere new. 

This room was different. She remembered this room.

The drugs and tests didn't work on her the same way they did everyone else, but they'd still tried to hook her up to the machines.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked her, sounding genuinely surprised to see the various apparatus and devices in the room.

"Torture," she said quietly.

"Captain --"

"Shush."

"Captain --"

Without another word, Carol pushed the man hard to his knees. He let out a gasp of pain, having hit the floor hard, but she couldn't be concerned with that now. She had thought she'd heard something and had reacted. 

"Up," Carol ordered as she spotted something across the room, dragging him along with her to where two women lay unconscious on the floor.

"Friends of yours?" the man asked, his voice still tinged with pain and the beginning of sarcasm.

"No," Carol answered before marching him to the wall and busting open a panel to retrieve a fresh firearm. She'd been here before. She knew where a few things were kept. "They're not human either. They're things."

"What..."

"They're not really people," Carol said, guiding them both around the motionless forms. "They made them here and they control them completely. They don't feel. They can't be reasoned with or bribed or bought. But that one," she said, motioning to the one who was missing both an arm and her mouth, "that one was cruel. She ran this place."

What Carol didn't add was the fact that that one had likely been the one to kill her friends. She'd done it before. And, if Bug and Ace weren't here...

"You said you know the way out?" 

"Yes," he answered.

"Good, let's go."

Carol had started to march him back across the room when she stopped and felt it. She didn't know how she knew, just like she wasn't really sure how she'd done a lot of things lately, but Carol knew not to doubt it. That feeling that crept up on her, telling her that something was about to happen.

Captain America was back.

"You have my gun," he said as he entered the room and squared off against her.

"Take it," Carol returned, sliding it across the floor about a foot short of where he stood. "Found a better one of my own," she said, holding up her new acquisition.

"Okay, look," Iron Man said, having followed Captain America into the room. "We've got you outnumbered. We don't want to hurt you."

"Well, that's considerate."

"This place is going to be destroyed in five minutes," Captain America said, sounding earnest, but making the mistake of stepping towards her.

In a blink of the eye Carol had her hostage back on his knees, but this time she held the gun up to his head.

"Back off."

Captain America held up his hands and took a good size step away as she'd commanded him to do.

"I'm running out of patience here," Iron Man informed her.

"So am I."

Carol watched as the two men moved, each slightly inclining their heads before returning their focus to her.

"Who is out in that hallway?" she demanded.

"It's another agent of SHIELD," the Captain said. "Like the man you have there. They're here to help you. They came here for their agents."

"Now they come?" Carol asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "Now? They're a little late, don't you think? Everyone's dead. Everyone's gone."

"Agent Coulson and Agent Barton are with us. We got them out earlier."

"Who are you talking about?" Carol spat back at him, beginning to lose her composure. "Am I supposed to know those names? Is that supposed to mean something to me? Do you have any idea how many men and women have been dragged through here?"

"Sixteen," he answered. "At least sixteen, not including yourself. Sixteen that we know of."

The way he said it gave her pause. He sounded sorry for it and he sounded like he meant it.

"All those were SHIELD?" she asked.

"Were there more?" Iron Man inquired.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Yes, there was more than that, but that... How am I supposed to trust you? You're dressed like Captain America, and you? Really? Tony Stark's making house calls now?"

"You've been out of the loop for awhile," he returned.

"This is insane," Carol countered. "I thought I knew what crazy was but this... this... What? Is Batman waiting outside? Are we all going to hop in the Millennium Falcon and fly home? What's next?"

"Carol," a new voice called out from just outside the room. "It's all right. They're not lying to you."

"You don't sound like Batman."

"I'm not Batman, and we've never actually spoken," the man said, and it was true; it wasn't a voice she recognized, but still... "I'm going to step inside and then I'll need you to trust me."

Carol waited, not sure what to expect next but that feeling was back. Whatever was happening, it was big. Good or bad, it was big. She didn't think she could be surprised again, but she was wrong.

It was Bug.

Carol locked eyes on him and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked a little worse for the wear, certainly worse than the last time she'd seen him, but it was him. For nearly a year she'd been with him. She'd seen him nearly every day. She'd never heard his voice, never even been this close to him before or even in the same room, but it was him. He'd been with her the longest. Carol knew it was him.

"Carol, they've all left or died," he assured her. "They abandoned us. There's no one here. Ace is out and safe. It's over and it's time to go. There's a countdown and we need to be clear before it ends."

Carol didn't move. She felt frozen. It felt like a dream. It was too good to be really happening.

"That's my friend, by the way," Bug said, motioning towards her captive. "His name is Jasper Sitwell. Can he get up?"

Without thinking about it, she nodded. Carol held his gaze and nodded; she even let go of Jasper and helped him onto his feet.

Once standing Jasper took a few tentative steps forward before picking up the pace and walking straight out of the room with a noticeable limp. He didn't run, and he didn't rush, but Jasper didn't look back either.

"Can you give us a moment?" Bug asked over his shoulder at the two other men.

Carol watched as both Captain America and Iron Man left the room. She heard the Captain ask someone named Thor of all things to accompany a few people out while they waited. After that it really did sound like Tony Stark in the hallway, saying something about shorting out a circuit.

It really was insane.

"We're getting out of here," Bug said in a low voice, walking to her and taking her hand. "Carol," he repeated, giving her hand a squeeze, "we're really getting out of here."

She let out a half-delirious laugh, but quickly reined it in. Bug smiled along with her, and she knew he felt it too. She couldn't do this now. There would be time later. Time to really talk and get all the details. Time for proper introductions and acknowledgements. Right now it was enough that it was real. That they were doing this. That it was really happening.

They were going home.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters to go!

xx.

"Someone talk to me," Natasha barked into the comm line.

She'd ran the distance from the jet to the bunker and took the stairs two at a time. If Natasha's estimation was correct, and she was certain it was, there was less than three minutes to go. She didn't have the exact count but she knew there couldn't more than that.

"Stark. Hill. Rogers," Natasha rattled off, picking up her pace as she crossed the empty bay towards the double doors they'd gone through earlier. "Tell me what is happening."

Before she reached the door it burst open, and there was Maria and Jasper, lumbering through as fast as possible given the fact that he appeared injured and she was supporting a good portion of his weight.

"Go," Maria shouted at her, waving at Natasha to turn around. "Go!"

Ignoring the command, Natasha ran towards them and went straight to Jasper's side, slinging his free arm around her shoulders.

"I can run," Jasper snapped.

"Running is how you pulled the damn thing," Maria fired back at him.

"Where is everyone?" Natasha asked, looking back at the doors and seeing no signs of the rest of the team.

"Stark is trying to override the system," Maria said as they continued forward, her words steady and strong but her eyes were a bit frantic. "Rogers stayed with him. The rest were supposed to follow but --"

"It tripped," Morse practically shouted across the line before schooling her voice. "Take cover. Now. Time's up in five..."

Natasha and Maria halted in their tracks, Jasper still between them, practically in the center of the bay with nowhere to go. 

"Four."

The stairwell that had brought them into the underground outpost was closest, but offered little shelter.

"Three."

The women locked eyes and knew the odds.

"Two."

"Stay!" Thor suddenly boomed, having burst through the doors. "I shall come for you!"

Natasha shook her head at him, urging him not to move. He'd be needed where he was. They were a lost cause. They had no shot. 

Maria pulled at her and Jasper; the best they could do was huddle up together in place.

"One."

"No," Thor yelled, still in the doorway and waiting for the explosion to come.

It never did.

The only sound was that of Thor's voice echoing off the walls.

After several long seconds, that could have been hours, Natasha opened her eyes and ventured a glance around. Maria and Jasper did the same and after a few seconds more the three of them stood upright.

"What happened?" Maria asked as Thor, Phil and Carol moved towards them into the open bay.

"I do not know," Thor answered, casting about the room as if expecting it to burst into flame.

"Morse?" Natasha called out over the comm.

"Is everyone all right?" Bobbi asked in return.

"We're fine," Maria assured her.

"It must have been a dud," Jasper said, clearly relieved. 

"We're on our way," Bobbi said.

"Hurry," Clint's voice broke in, and there was something in his tone that made Natasha uneasy.

Without prompting, Natasha turned to Phil and she could see it in his eyes. He'd heard it too. The edge. Clint never sounded like that unless it was bad. Very bad.

"Barton," Phil said. "Report."

"Sir, there um..." Clint said, struggling to find words. "Well, you think you've seen everything and then... then three giant robots crawl out of the ground."

"Sentries," Bruce interrupted, having activated the comm link onboard the jet. "It wasn't a self-destruct sequence. They activated the Sentries."

"They're moving in on us," Clint said having regained his composure. "Fast."

"Stay onboard," Tony ordered, moving quickly out the doors and through the bay with Steve and Bobbi right behind him. "Morse is going to fly you out of here."

"Just me?" Clint snapped angrily.

"Don't argue," Steve returned sharply. "Listen."

"Bruce?" Tony asked over the comm, as he ushered everyone towards the stairs. "Can the Hulk come out and play?"

"Yeah," he said after a slight pause. "I think so."

"Good, meet us outside," he finished, cutting the line. "Morse, you know what to do. Hill, Sitwell, Coulson and Danvers, follow Morse. She's getting you out of here while the rest of us take care of these things."

"Hawkeye won't like that," Natasha said, shaking her head and knowing how this was likely to end as she double checked her gear.

"I'll handle him," Phil said.

"Do that," Tony said with a nod. "Let's go."

When they reached the open air they found that the Hulk was already out and glaring menacingly at the nearest Sentry, keeping it at bay. Clint was waiting at the bottom of the ramp, still on the jet and looking sour and ready for a fight as Morse led the group onboard. His expression softened slightly upon seeing Carol. There was only time for a quick clasp of hands, but it was enough to see her and see her safe.

"No," Phil said firmly, stopping in front of him and motioning the other man to turn back around.

"Sir."

"Absolutely not," Phil said shaking his head.

"I need someone to sit shotgun," Bobbi called back to him. "Come on, Barton. Let's fly."

Clint looked back at the rest of the team, his team, and felt his insides twist. He should be out there helping. He should be doing his job, not running away.

"Come on," Maria urged, having already strapped Jasper in, but unable to stop herself from pausing alongside Clint for a moment.

Maria and Clint watched as Steve and Natasha, Tony and Thor, each exchanged plans before moving out and into danger.

"Let's get in the air," Phil said as he closed up the ramp.

Clint gave him a brisk nod, moving back to the cockpit and joining Bobbi as he took the co-pilot's chair.

"What is that?" Carol asked, peering out the window over Clint's shoulder.

"I don't know," Phil admitted as he passed her a spare tactical jacket and pair of boots. They too had been dressed as Clint had been; institutional pajamas no better than hospital gowns.

"The robots? Sentries," Maria answered. "Long story. We'll tell it later."

"I was actually talking about the giant green man," Carol corrected. She remembered the robots just fine.

"Also a long story," Clint answered. "He's with us."

"I'll take your word for it, Ace."

"Ace?" Bobbi asked, eyebrow raised as she set the jet to hover.

"Let's play catch up later," Maria cut her short.

"Good call," Phil seconded. "Agent Morse, care to get us out of here?"

"With pleasure."

"Careful," Carol urged, straining her neck to see out the cockpit window. "These things --"

"I've got it," Bobbi said, growing curt. "Unless you want to fly this thing --"

"I do," Carol interrupted with complete sincerity and Clint couldn't help it; he laughed.

Bobbi looked clearly affronted but held her tongue and kept her eyes forward. "Buckle in," she said tersely.

She focused instead on keeping the jet low and moving slowly up and away from the fight that had begun. Below them the Hulk was taking on one of the Sentries alone. Nearby Tony and Thor were leading the second one away, leaving the third to Natasha and Steve.

None of them knew exactly what these things were capable of and Bobbi didn't care to find out.

Her eyes darted over to Clint. He'd keyed in on the fight as well. His hands rested on the controls, ready to fire if necessary.

She reached over and put her hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.

They could not afford to attract the attention.

Tony had told her to get them away safely, and that was exactly what Bobbi planned on doing.

Just as they'd reached a comfortable altitude and Bobbi had begun to relax, it happened.

The Hulk let out an ear shattering roar and Bobbi and Clint both watched in muted surprise as the Sentry he'd been tackling threw him off and launched itself up and into the air.

"Brace yourselves," Bobbi shouted, pulling up and away but unable to escape it's grasp.

With one hand the Sentry leapt up and caught the Quinjet by the wing, hurling it back towards the ground.

The jet split open like a piñata, the tail section ripping completely free as they landed at the base of a grove of trees.

Maria, who had yet to gain her seat at the time of the crash, had first flown up and hit the roof before landing hard on the floor at Jasper's feet.

Jasper called out her name in shock as he struggled with his buckle in an effort to reach her side.

Carol got free first, ripping her own restraints open before doing the same for Phil and Jasper.

"She's got a pulse," Phil confirmed, carefully cradling her head as he checked the vein at her neck. "We have to get her out of here."

Phil scooped her up in his arms as Carol moved to the cockpit.

"How are you, Ace? Talk to me."

"Shaken," Clint answered, his voice proving it, "but I'll make it. Nothing broke."

"Good. Get your friend and let's go."

Clint nodded at her, still feeling a bit sluggish, but understood. They had to get out of the jet before that thing came back for them. The Hulk was doing his damndest to keep it back, but it appeared set on finishing the job it had begun.

"I've got you," Carol said, turning to Jasper and half-carrying him out behind Phil and Maria. "Pretty sure I owe you anyway."

Clint didn't hear Jasper's reply. His ears were starting to ring and it was making him feel clumsy. Finally freed, he turned to Morse.

"Come on," he said. He'd seen her stirring out of the corner of his eye, so until then Clint hadn't been bothered by her lack of verbalization. But as soon as he really saw her, saw her pallor, he grew concerned. Bobbi's face was chalky white and her hands were shaking, still on the controls before her.

"Morse?" he said tentatively.

"Go," she said softly, her eyes still staring out the window.

"What?"

"Go, Barton," she said, stronger this time but still refusing to look at him directly. "He can't hold it long."

Clint threw a glance out the window and saw she was right. The Hulk was struggling and there was no one else around to assist. The rest of the Avengers were occupied. The Sentry would be back on them soon.

"Take a breath and pull it together, Morse," Clint said firmly.

"I can't," she said, finally turning her eyes on his and offering up a weak smile. "I can't. My leg... I'm stuck."

Clint looked down and realized the problem. When they'd crashed, the control panel had caved in around her left leg, keeping her in place.

"Get out of here while you can," she said reaching up with a groan and flipping a few switches. "I'll draw it's attention. The weapons still work. Might give the rest of you a chance. Go, Barton. Just go."

"No," he dismissed, reaching over her to examine the problem himself. "I'll pry you loose. I'll drag you out of here, chair and all, if I have to."

"No," she sighed, putting her hand on his shoulder and pushing him away, albeit weakly. "You won't."

Clint took another look and saw she was right. Bobbi's leg wasn't just trapped underneath the panel, it was impaled. She'd already lost a lot of blood. If he tried to move her, she might lose her entire leg in the process.

They'd never make it.

"Barton," Phil called over the line, having already cleared the jet and moved a safe distance away. "What's your status?"

"Go," Bobbi repeated with a faint smile. "It's fine. Go."

Clint looked out the back of the jet before turning to look out the window again.

The Sentry was on its way.

Taking a deep breath, Clint sat back down in the co-pilot's seat and keyed up the weapon's system.

"Barton," Phil said, his voice sharp with concern.

"I'm sorry, sir," Clint returned. "We're not coming."


	21. Chapter 21

xxi.

Phil was momentarily at a loss.

Maria was still unconscious. Jasper's knee made him practically immobile. They were currently safe, at what Phil hoped was a good distance away from the fight, but nothing was certain. 

On the horizon the action was unfolding. At least one of the Sentries was down, the smallest of the three, but it had not been an easy task. The Sentry that had brought down their jet was closing in on the wreckage, having evaded the Hulk more than once as the rest of the Avengers had turned their attention to the third Sentry further away.

On top of that, Clint was no longer responding to Phil's calls.

"We have to help," Carol said as she stood by his side surveying the scene.

"How?"

"I don't know, Bug."

"Phil."

Carol turned to him with a curious expression playing across her features.

"My name is Phil."

Carol smiled at him warmly and Phil shook his head as she repeated his name back to him.

"You're going in," he said with half a sigh. "Aren't you?"

"I think I have to."

"And do what?"

"I don't know," she admitted, a little desperate. "I don't know what it is that... I don't know what they did to me or what I'm capable of now but I have to help. To try. They came for us. After all this time, they came for us when we both thought... I owe them. I owe Ace."

"Clint."

"Clint then," she smiled, as if he was being unreasonable, but the smile was gone in an instant. "I have to help."

"Carol," he began to object.

"I can do this," she said defiantly.

"I know you can," he said with complete confidence. "I believe it, Carol. Just, please... be safe."

"Always," she said, grinning back at him as she took off at a brisk place. "Take care of your friends. And yourself. We've got a lot of talking to do."

Carol picked up the pace, refusing to look back. If she looked back, she'd linger. That's just how it was, and right now she couldn't afford to linger. She made it to the jet in no time, climbing back inside and rushing to the cockpit.

"What the hell are you doing?" Clint asked, his attention shifting from Carol to the windshield and back again.

"What's happened?" she asked in return, ignoring him and leaning over to take a look at Agent Morse.

The other woman looked bad. She'd evidently passed out at some point and her leg was heavily bandaged.

"We can't move her," Clint shrugged in defeat.

Carol nodded, understanding his motivation. It was what had driven her back into the fight. 

Another roar caught their attention and it looked as if this time the Hulk would be down for the count.

The Sentry turned its face towards the jet and Carol and Clint could both sense it honing in on them.

"Stay in the jet," Carol said sternly, turning to leave.

"What are you doing?" Clint yelled back at her, half rising from his chair.

"Stay here," she repeated. "I know now. I can... I can feel... I know what to do."

"Carol?" Clint called out. "You're not even armed. What the --" 

Clint stopped cold when he saw that Carol had circled round to the front of the jet. With a sense of dread Clint watched as Carol strode towards the Sentry never taking her eyes off of the thing.

She stopped about ten yards out, and to Clint's surprise, the Sentry stopped too.

It seemed at first to be sizing her up. It hesitated. And then, it spoke.

The voice was robotic and cold, not dissimilar to the one used inside their cells. It could have been the same voice that would occasionally, ruthlessly, call their names, but the words...

The words weren't human.

Carol hesitated.

The Sentry repeated the phrase and it was clear that it expected a reply, but it was equally clear that Carol did not know what to say in return.

Clint steadied his hands on the controls, watching the situation unfold with growing trepidation.

The Sentry gave her one last look before moving surprising speed and agility, bringing its heavy foot down on Carol's head.

When it moved, so had Clint, letting loose every weapon he could while ensuring not to inadvertently harm Carol.

Not that it would make a difference, his rational brain supplied.

A giant robot had just stepped on her; friendly fire was no longer a big concern.

But the Sentry's foot hadn't come down completely. From Clint's vantage it appeared stuck. It was struggling to finish the movement and a moment later he saw why when it staggered backwards, landing on the ground.

Carol had caught it.

When the Sentry had brought it's foot down on her, she'd caught it and thrown the thing back.

Clint stopped firing.

The Sentry got back up again and honed in once more on the jet. Rushing forward, it reached down and pushed Carol to the side, sending her sprawling in surprise, before taking the cockpit into its gigantic hands and attempting to rip the nose clean off the jet.

Clint opened fire again, but the Sentry was unbothered and continued to pry open the jet in order to get to Clint and Bobbi still stuck inside.

Carol caught her breath and raced back into action.

Climbing up the back of the Sentry, she reached the base of its neck and took hold of the biggest cable she could find and pulled.

Carol put all her strength into her effort but it wouldn't budge. She couldn't get enough of a hold on the thing, the cable being half emerged in the robot's structure.

"Up here, gruesome."

Carol stopped long enough to look in the direction of the new voice. Stark in his Iron Man suit had joined the fight and was attempting to lead the Sentry away from the jet.

"Not you, Danvers," Stark called out. "Keep ripping on that thing."

"Copy that," she returned with a heavy breath, feeling her hands grow hot before she punched a hole straight into the back of its head, finally getting the grip she needed.

"The knees are weak," Captain America, whose real name Carol thought might be Rogers, yelled out as he joined them.

In the next instant, the Sentry swayed and without having to look Carol knew the Captain had taken aim with his shield and landed a critical blow.

Carol was close now. Her arm was inside the structure, wrapped completely around the cable she knew acted as the central nervous system. Without knowing how she knew, she just did. It felt like common knowledge, though she couldn't imagine how it could be. Throwing all her strength into it, Carol wrenched the thing backwards and felt it beginning to give way.

The Sentry faltered, stumbling down onto one knee and then there was a loud crack.

The whole cable ripped free and Carol dropped down to the ground seconds before the Sentry fell motionless beside her.

Stark landed a few steps to her left, his mask melting back into his suit as Captain America walked up to assess the scene.

"That the last one?" Carol asked, taking a look around.

"Yeah," the Captain confirmed.

"Good," she said, giving him a crisp nod before walking away.

*****

SHIELD arrived on the scene not long after Natasha issued a distress call for an emergency pick-up to Director Fury personally.

He was not a happy man.

Director Fury wasn't happy that he hadn't been told about the imposters. He wasn't happy that they'd created and executed their entire plan without his knowledge. He wasn't happy that they'd gone into an unknown organization's base of operations without his approval.

The only thing he was happy about was seeing Phil again. The real Phil. But you'd never know it from his demeanor, which remained angry and unchanged throughout.

Bobbi's injuries, while serious, weren't life threatening. Her leg was broke and she'd lost a lot of blood, but once they'd freed her from the wreckage it was easy enough to patch up. They had wanted to send her back ahead of everyone else, but no one would agree to that particular plan.

Bobbi was an Avenger and she opted to stay with her team until they were all ready to depart.

Maria ended up with a mild concussion and no broken bones. She was battered and bruised, but as soon as she was able, she was also back on her feet. Maria also did her best to avoid Steve. 

It wasn't because she didn't want to see him. It was exactly because she wanted to see him so badly that she knew she couldn't. Not yet. They were on a mission; they would still be on a mission until they were all back at the Tower. It was something he seemed to understand without being told, because Steve kept out of her way too. Maria did what she needed to do and Steve did what he needed to do.

They could wait.

It was a common theme.

Natasha and Clint, while remaining near one another, didn't speak. She hovered nearby as medical did a quick check-up on both him and Phil, but she didn't intervene. Natasha didn't engage Clint in any meaningful way, outside of business, and Clint understood. It was part of their understanding. Work was work and everything else was not work.

Technically, they'd already broken that understanding. When they'd first arrived back on the jet, when Natasha had stopped Clint from rushing back in, they couldn't help themselves. Once he'd gotten her back in his arms, Clint hadn't wanted to let go again. He wasn't even sure how he'd managed it and was certain he couldn't do it again. 

Not any time soon, but they weren't there yet.

After everyone was triaged and treated and the majority of the structure locked down and secured, Fury insisted that anyone injured be sent back immediately.

Agent Ryan flew them back.

Once they'd arrived at the Tower Bobbi finally relented and took something for the pain before setting herself up on the couch. Jasper positioned himself in a nearby chair, propping his bad leg up on the ottoman and also took something for his pain before promptly falling asleep.

"If you're tired there are some spare rooms," Maria said, feeling awkward as she stood before Phil, Clint and Carol. She couldn't keep still. She had too much pent up energy. "The rest of the team probably won't be back for hours and we can do the official debrief then. Agent Ryan left some spare go-bags if you'd like to change. You probably want to change. Or shower. Or something."

"How hard did you hit your head?" Clint asked out of curiosity.

"Pretty damn hard," she admitted.

"Why don't you let me give the grand tour," Clint suggested. "Take a break, Hill. I'll bring Phil up to the conference room when the time comes. JARVIS will let us know when everyone's here, won't you JARVIS?"

_"That depends, Mr. Barton."_

"On what?"

_"On whether or not you are in your private quarters at the time,"_ JARVIS answered. _"I know how much you dislike me intruding."_

"Tonight's an exception," Clint said, inclining his head towards the elevator as he picked up a bag and headed towards them. Phil and Carol followed suite in silence. "One time only."

_"Yes, Mr. Barton. And might I add, welcome home."_

"Thanks," he returned, feeling his chest tighten with emotion.

_"Any time, sir."_

Clint pushed the correct floor and sighed as the doors shut on the three of them and the elevator rushed downward. He could sense Phil's eyes on him and knew there would be a lot of questions to answer. Clint had only missed four months worth of activity; Phil had missed just over a year.

"Okay," Clint as he led them down the hall, a little surprised to see two of the rooms were already listed as occupied; electronic plates indicated each room's status just outside the door. "Carol, this work for you?" he asked as he opened the door.

"My last place was a terrarium," Carol said as she set the SHIELD issued bag on a chair. "It should do."

"Bedroom and bathroom are through there," Clint said, pointing towards a door. "Kitchenette probably isn't stocked, but if you're hungry just go back the way we came. Fridge upstairs is always full. If you get lost ask JARVIS and he'll set you right. My room is a floor down, second left off the elevator if you need me."

"I don't suppose I can get in on that debrief, can I?"

Clint blinked a few times in surprise, turning to Phil for guidance.

"I'll talk to Director Fury," Phil said with a nod. "You're owed answers, the same as us."

"Thank you," Carol said, looking about the room and beginning to feel anxious. "Got to say, it's going to be strange sleeping somewhere new. Waking up without one of you nearby."

"If it helps I can set Phil up across the way. Prop the doors open."

"See," Carol said with a smile as she moved closer to him. "That's the kind of thing that gets lost in translation."

"What?" he asked, unable to keep from returning her smile as she dropped her hands onto his shoulders.

"That you're a smartass," she finished, kissing his cheek before she hugged him tight.

Clint held her for a moment, overcome with relief. He hadn't quite gotten out of his mission mindset, but he was getting there. He felt like he was beginning to come unglued and knew that he'd couldn't. Not yet. He had just hold on a little longer.

"Okay," Carol said, stepping back and looking a little teary-eyed. "You two look as if you're dying to talk. Get out of here. I'll be fine." 

Carol patted Clint on the shoulder before turning her attention to Phil. Clint backed up a few steps, moving towards the door to give them some space. Same as she'd done before, Carol moved in and hugged and kissed Phil, but neither of them spoke. They broke apart and Phil turned to go, leaving Clint to trail after him and out of the room.

"Sir," Clint said as he opened up the room directly across the hall.

"You can drop the sir, Clint."

"Not yet."

Phil placed his bag on the floor and sat heavily into the nearest chair with a sigh. Clint shifted his weight uncertainly before giving up, seating himself on the couch and rubbing his hands roughly over his head.

"When did you leave?" Phil asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Who told you?" Clint asked, not bothering to play stupid.

"JARVIS did," Phil answered. "He called you mister." Clint nodded. It was exactly how Hill had figured it out. "So?" he pressed.

"Where do I start," Clint said letting out a huff of air. "I guess you know we won against the Chitauri."

"I assumed."

"Yeah," Clint said, nodding his head. "You assumed right. Fury's probably got a dossier already prepped for you with all the details. After that though... I don't know. I just felt lost. I needed more than SHIELD. More than... I don't know."

"You've always needed purpose."

"Might as well say what you really mean," Clint laughed. "I've always needed direction. Supervision. Someone to save me from myself."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit," Phil said, standing up and stretching as he moved to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. "And besides, I thought SHIELD provided you with that. Direction, I mean."

"You provided me with that," Clint objected, dropping his head back into his hands and unable to even look at Phil. "After New York... SHIELD didn't cut it. It couldn't. I wanted to do more. I wanted to be more. Saw that for once maybe I could."

"I'm glad, Clint. That you found this. That you finally realized..."

"I didn't realize anything," Clint said with a shaky laugh. "It all felt so... The price felt too high. All the time. It felt wrong without..." Clint stopped and took in another gulp of air. "God, I feel like I'm falling apart again."

"I know," Phil agreed.

"This is all happening, isn't it? This happened. It's real. It's done."

"You may be asking the wrong person."

"Maybe," Clint agreed, shaking his head.

"Take your own advice," Phil said calmly. "Take a break, Clint. Breathe."

"Do we have time for that?"

"Until someone says otherwise, yes. We do."

"Okay, sir," Clint said, getting back to his feet. "I'll try."

"Do" Phil corrected, standing up and walking him to the door.

"Yes, sir," Clint smiled back at him and it was as if a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He hesitated, unsure for a moment, before deciding he was being stupid. They were done. They were safe. The mission, for them at least, was over and he was all hung up on nothing.

It was an adjustment.

Clint hugged Phil, just so entirely grateful for the chance. Thankful to be back amongst friends and ready to start his life again.

Phil let out a quiet laugh as he patted him on the back, not surprised that Clint didn't say anything more. He watched as Clint turned and walked back down the hall towards the elevator, giving Phil a slight wave before the doors shut.

They'd have a lot more to discuss, Phil was certain of it, but now wasn't the time. Right now they all needed to regain their footing. Take it easy and go slow. 

It was strange to be back in the land of the living.

Phil was about to shut his own door and try and take those first steps back into normalcy when his eyes darted across the hall to where Carol had propped her door open with a heavy vase.

He hesitated for a split second before deciding to cross the hall and peak into her room. 

Phil just wanted to be certain she was okay.

"Carol?" he called out quietly, treading lightly into her room and seeing her bedroom door was also propped open. "Carol?" he repeated, softer than before as he took a quick look into the room.

She was already asleep.

Carol had positioned herself on the bed so that she could face the door, still above the covers and curled up on her side.

Phil looked once around the room, found a blanket and draped it over her before leaving. He was halfway across the hall and back to his own room before he changed his mind. Circling back, Phil found his own blanket and got comfortable on Carol's couch, making certain that, from where he lay, he could see both Carol's door and the entrance.

It was going to be a huge adjustment.


	22. Chapter 22

xxii.

The sun was coming up when they landed back at the Tower and Steve, for the first time in a long time, felt exhausted.

Director Fury had taken one look at the group of them after they'd processed most of the outpost, packed up pieces of the Sentries, catalogued various items and retrieved their Skrull prisoners from the SHIELD compound and declared that they would reconvene at fifteen hundred hours in the Avengers conference room.

Steve knew if he felt this run down everyone else must be barely holding on. Well, everyone except maybe Thor, but even the God of Thunder yawned and kept his seat the entire flight. Bruce napped and Tony was exceptionally quiet. Natasha was the only one who really looked unaffected, but Steve knew better than to believe it.

It had been a very long day.

No sooner than they had unloaded most of their gear, Maria arrived.

"Here," she said, pushing a tablet into Tony's hands before he could object. "Initial report. It needs your signature."

"Good morning to you too, Agent Hill," Tony smiled, looking a little put out by her attitude and more so by her shoving but he wasn't angry. Not really.

"All the data SHIELD collected is being streamed onto the servers here," she continued, taking the tablet back as soon as he'd signed. "Coulson and Danvers were given rooms."

"That's fine," Tony said, waving it off as minor before hefting one side of a rather large case inside with Bruce. "Morse," he called out as soon as he spotted her. "How's the leg?"

"Broken," she deadpanned.

"That sucks," Tony said, casting about him for something else to comment on.

"Pepper called," Maria said, glancing once around at everyone; lingering a bit on Steve before pressing on. "I'm not your secretary."

"Of course not," Tony replied.

"But I did give her an update," Maria continued, less rigid than before. "She's flying back tonight. Arrangements have already been made."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Maria nodded.

"You didn't happen to pick up breakfast, did you?"

"Don't push it," Maria answered and Tony laughed. "I've already briefed Agent Coulson and Barton on how all this..." she paused, waving her hands in the air, still unable to articulate exactly what had happened verbally, "...how all this occurred." 

"We know that?" Bruce asked with a laugh of his own. They were all feeling a bit giddy with relief and fatigue.

"No," Maria admitted, "but I told them everything we do know about the Skrulls and the Kree."

"We may know more soon," Steve said, catching her eye again and trying to hold it. It was so good to see her, but there was no time to express that feeling with anything more than a look. "There were two Kree among the dead. At least we think they're Kree. They'd kept them in storage."

"Please do not tell me you brought them here," Bobbi said, looking unusually tense as she eyed the case Bruce and Tony had brought inside.

"No," Bruce assured her. "This is some parts and pieces from one of the Sentries. Tony and I wanted to take a closer look at it."

"Did you get Fury's orders?" Tony asked Maria, slinking into a chair and propping his feet up.

"Yes."

"So... why aren't you asleep?" Tony asked, shaking his head. "Didn't you concuss yourself? Take a nap or something. We're all off the job until this afternoon."

"I rested," Maria said, somewhat defensively.

"Yeah, she sat down for like five whole minutes," Bobbi said with a sly grin.

Steve could see Maria's irritation, especially when everyone in the room grinned along with Bobbi. And really, Steve couldn't help it if he did too. When there was a job to do, Maria didn't stop until it was done. She didn't know how to take a break, concussion or no concussion.

It was one of the many things he liked so much about her.

"Well, this all needs to be locked up in the lab," Bruce said, surveying the cases. "I could still use a hand."

"Off the clock," Tony returned, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes.

"Lead the way," Thor said, lifting one on the cases and waiting for Bruce's command.

"I'll help," Steve said, taking another case on his own, which still left one more; the smallest one, but still normally a two-person job.

"Here," Maria said, taking hold of the handle as Bruce lifted the other.

It was an easy haul to the elevator, but a tight squeeze once inside. They ended up going in two trips; first Bruce and Maria followed shortly by Steve and Thor.

"I'm not going to break into them yet," Bruce was saying as the second elevator arrived. "Over there, please," he said, motioning to Steve and Thor where he wanted the cases. "Thank you. Tony's right, we've earned a break I think."

"That we have," Thor said enthusiastically. "We should celebrate."

"Pop-tarts?" Bruce suggested, heading back towards the elevator at the other man's side.

"An excellent suggestion."

Steve and Maria hung back, their eyes turned towards the two of them until the elevator doors closed and they were gone.

Immediately his gaze shifted back to her. Steve had been up and down all day regarding how he felt. It had been taxing and relentless and as much relief as he felt seeing her safe, Maria looked far from sound.

"It's really not as bad as it looks," she sighed, uncrossing her arms and relaxing into the nearest counter.

"That's good because it looks really bad."

Maria gave him a tight smile and shrugged.

Steve wanted to reach out and touch her, hold her, but he was suddenly hyperaware of the distance between them and everything that had still been left unsaid.

"I suppose Stark is right," Maria said after a few awkward moments. "The Director won't be here until this afternoon. There's nothing to do in the meantime."

"I suppose so," Steve agreed, straightening up when she did and unconsciously mimicking her familiar folded arms. "Should you sleep though?" Maria threw him an inquisitive glance on their way to the elevator, so he continued. "After your injury. I thought you would need to stay awake after hitting your head so hard."

"Enough time has passed," Maria said, checking her watch before stepping inside and hitting the button for her floor. "Should be safe."

"Well maybe..." Steve started to say.

"But probably..." Maria said at the same time, turning and with a smile gesturing for him to continue.

"I was just thinking that maybe you shouldn't be alone," he finished. "Just in case."

"You're probably right," she agreed, shifting her weight towards him as she briefly met his eyes.

"That's um..." Steve said, tentatively brushing her hand with his own. "That's..."

Maria slipped her hand into his and interlocked their fingers, facing Steve and giving him a full smile that completely changed her countenance.

Steve slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her closer, pausing to look first into her eyes before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers.

 _"Pardon me, Captain Rogers, Agent Hill,"_ JARVIS said, causing them to pull apart slightly and look up at the ceiling, _"but this elevator is needed at the penthouse floor. Unless you would like to rejoin the rest of the Avengers, might I suggest adjourning to some place more private?"_

"Sorry," Steve said, ducking his head as he stepped off the elevator with Maria, her hand still in his.

_"Quite all right, sir."_

Maria and Steve waited until the elevator doors had shut again before looking at one another again and laughing.

"That was embarrassing," Steve said with a grin. 

"A little," Maria agreed, reaching up and kissing him again quickly, before she'd lost her nerve. "But fine. It's fine. JARVIS is probably programmed to be discreet."

"Only as far as Tony's concerned. The rest of us our on our own," Steve said with a faint laugh. "Although... I don't know. Are we trying to be discreet?" he asked, pulling her closer and kissing her again, longer this time.

"Not really," she smiled, tugging on his hand and leading him down the hall towards her room.

Maria stopped outside the door, cupping his face with her hands as she pulled Steve back in for another kiss.

"We can be discreet later," she said as they moved apart. "Right now..."

Maria gave him another smile and Steve was still amazed at how much it changed her. Maria lit up when she smiled and Steve realized he would do just about anything to keep her that way. To keep her happy and carefree. He wanted that as much as he wanted her.

Without turning away from him, Maria reached back and opened the door, taking a few steps back and into her room, holding the door open for him to follow.

This time Steve didn't hesitate.

*****

Natasha had arrived back with the rest of the team, it was only that her return had been much quieter. She'd done what needed to be done, helped where she could, and waited until everything was settled before slipping out of the room.

She knew exactly where she was going, Natasha just didn't know what kind of reception she'd receive once she'd arrived.

Clint's door was unlocked.

Stepping inside, Natasha noted that all of the lights were off and the shades were drawn. It was completely dark and the only sound was that of a soft snore coming from the bedroom.

Unsure if she should go, or if she could even wait a moment longer, Natasha pushed the door open slowly and peered inside at Clint's still sleeping form.

It could wait, she reasoned even as she continued to linger in the door. They had time now and anything that needed to be said between them could be said, just at another time. Any other time. They were back and safe and everything was almost as it should be... 

This could wait.

As she turned to go, Clint stirred.

"Tasha?"

"Yeah," she answered, leaning into the doorframe and crossing her arms.

"Everything okay?"

"Fine," she assured him, nodding as her eyes adjusted to the dim.

Clint rubbed a free hand over his face before stretching into a yawn.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking around for a clock or a clue.

"Still pretty early," she answered.

"Been back long?"

"No."

"Fury move up the brief?" Clint asked, sounding more awake but not moving from his spot.

"No."

"Are you going to stand all the way over there all morning?"

Natasha smiled, cocking her head to the side before she moved fully into the room and stopped just at the foot of his bed.

"That's a little better," he said, motioning her closer and obviously not willing to relent until she sat down.

She did.

"How are you?" Clint asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I'm fine."

"So am I," she returned.

"Aren't we always?" he fired back at her as he laid back against the bed, but it was friendly. His tone was light, relieved even; fond and reminiscent.

For a few minutes they sat quietly in the dark, just listening to the sound of one another breathing.

It was a comfort and Natasha relented, laying down beside Clint. They each turned towards the center of the bed. Natasha propped her head up on her hand as Clint adjusted his pillow and scooted closer to her.

While they lay there, Clint reached over and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen across her eyes to a more suitable place behind her ear. Natasha let out a sigh, sorry when his hand drifted away again and using the opportunity to rest her own hand on his hip.

Slowly she rubbed his side, touching him softly before her fingers slipped under the fabric of his shirt and inched across his stomach.

"Stop it, Tasha," he said, his voice a heady sigh. "I know what you're doing," Clint finished, tugging his shirt back down and removing her hand with his own.

"Do you?"

"I'm fine," he repeated, and she knew she'd been caught. Clint always caught her. "It hardly left a mark and it wasn't you that did it anyway."

"Then let me see."

"Tasha."

"Let me see."

Muttering under his breath, Clint stripped off his shirt. Tossing the garment to the floor and sitting before her looking his irritation.

He was right, Natasha realized. On the imposter the scars had been prominent and garish; her worst nightmare. In reality they weren't nearly as bad. Small lines already fading into his skin.

Natasha reached over and ran her hand across his scars and felt Clint shudder at her touch.

"I'm so sorry," she said pulling her hand away and suppressing a sob.

"No," he said, engulfing her in his arms as he shook his head. "Don't say that. There's nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't you. I knew it wasn't you. I'm just so glad to have you back. You don't know..."

Natasha buried her head in the crook of his neck, letting him hold her. She needed Clint to hold her, she just hadn't known it until she was back in his arms.

Clint pressed his lips to the top of her head, resting there as he breathed her in.

"I've missed you so much," he said quietly. "I knew you all thought I was dead. You must have because Phil... When I saw Phil, I knew no one was coming. I don't know how he did it for so long. How Carol..." Clint continued, it all beginning to pour out unbidden. "I was desperate. I would have done anything but there wasn't anything we could do. We tried. We kept looking for some way to get out of there, but there was no way out. I kept thinking that if they thought I was dead... what would they do to you?"

"You had to know that Tony and Steve --"

"I never doubted them," Clint interrupted, nodding in agreement. "I knew they'd stand by you. You're a part of the team. The family. But SHIELD... I thought you'd only have Hill and Fury to defend you and the way things were..."

"They did defend me," Natasha said. "They all did. Mostly from myself."

Clint laughed at the truth of it before kissing her quickly on the temple.

"I've been trying to figure it all out," she continued, pressing closer to him and enjoying the intimacy. "Bruce has been helping me, to keep it from happening again. I think it's going well."

"I'm not worried."

"You never are," she replied. "But Clint, I've got a long way to go. I'm not there yet. I don't know when I will be. I don't know if I can be whole again."

"Can any of us?"

Natasha didn't answer him. She didn't know how to answer him.

He was right.

"I know what you're saying," Clint continued after a long moment spent holding her in his arms. "You need time. I've got time, Tasha. Lots of it. The only thing I need to know is that I'm not wasting it. Tell me if you think this is going somewhere, anywhere, and I can wait. I will wait for you. You're worth everything to me."

Natasha ran her hands over her his head, tipping Clint's face towards her own before kissing him deeply.

It was nothing she hadn't already known. Nothing Clint hadn't said to her time and time again. It only felt like it was the first time she'd really heard him.

"I don't want to wait any longer," Natasha said as she pulled away from him, leaning in immediately for another kiss. "I don't know how... I can't say I'll ever be really done with this but I need you," she finished, pressing against him again leaving Clint without any further pretext of restraint.

He slid his hands over her body, turning and pressing her back into the mattress as he trailed his lips down her neck.

Natasha sighed, breathing Clint's name and feeling at peace for the first time in months. Completely at ease and at home. The stress and worry of the situation was all done away. The doubts were momentarily forgotten and insignificant.

"I love you, you know," he said quietly, pausing between kisses and looking her in the eyes.

"I know," she said, smiling back at him. 

Kissing him in return once, and then once more. 

He had come back to her slightly damaged and a little worse for the wear, but he had come back. Natasha knew in her heart Clint would always come back and together they found comfort in the same place they always did, with one another.

"I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank everyone who is reading this. Even if you didn't like it, thank you for getting here! Thank everyone who commented, kudo'd, reviewed, favorite'd, basically anything and everything everyone has done to encourage me to continue. I've had so much fun writing this! Thank you Tripp3235 for beta'ing and basically letting me bounce ideas off of her endlessly. I may write up better notes later, right now I'm exhausted and prepping for a trip so... thanks!
> 
> Also, thanks JiM. That was definitely not the word I meant to use!


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